Lallemantia, an imported or introduced oil plant in Bronze Age northern Greece

This paper reports on seeds of Lallemantia (Lamiaceae) found at Bronze Age sites in northern Greece. At several of these sites, the seeds were found in significant concentrations in storage contexts, suggesting that they were deliberately stored for use by the inhabitants. Oil from the seeds of Lallemantia can be used for a variety of purposes, including food, lighting and medicine. This genus is not native to Greece, the nearest modern occurrences of Lallemantia species being in Anatolia from where they extend further east as far as Iran, or beyond. To date, it has not been found in Neolithic deposits in Greece, despite significant archaeobotanical research, especially in northern Greece. This suggests that it first appeared in Greece in the early Bronze Age, and indicates long distance contacts with communities to the east or north at this time. It is difficult to establish whether its continued use indicates that seeds of this genus were repeatedly brought into Greece throughout the Bronze Age or that the genus was introduced in the early Bronze Age and then locally cultivated. The presence of seeds, however, may suggest that Lallemantia was locally cultivated, as it would have been possible to import it in the form of oil. The appearance of a new import or introduction at this time adds to the evidence for external contact during the Bronze Age. Lallemantia may have been part of a group of oil producing taxa which became significant during the Bronze Age in northern Greece paralleling the increased importance of the olive in southern Greece.     

Flax in Neolithic and Bronze Age Greece: archaeobotanical evidence

This paper presents an overview of archaeobotanical finds of Linum usitatissimum from Neolithic and Bronze Age Greece, bringing together published records of this plant as well as some recently retrieved, unpublished finds. In addition, charred flax seed concentrations from five prehistoric sites from the region of Macedonia in northern Greece, are examined in detail. The Neolithic sites are Makriyalos, Mandalo, Arkadikos, Dikili Tash, dated to the Late and Final Neolithic and Archondiko, dated to the end of the Early Bronze Age. Archaeobotanical composition and contextual information are used in order to explore the cultivation and potential uses of flax at each site. By the 5th millennium b.c. a flax weed flora had probably developed in the region. The use of flax seed for oil extraction and flax stems for flax fibre preparation can only be speculated upon and these uses are discussed within the context of other archaeological finds related to plant oil production and weaving. It is also possible that flax may have been used for medicinal purposes. Despite a striking paucity in archaeobotanical remains from southern Greece, textual evidence available from the Mycenean palace archives in Linear B clearly documents the cultivation of flax and flax fibre production.     

Food remains from Bronze Age-Archondiko and Mesimeriani Toumba in northern Greece?

Finds of fragmented cereal grain from the sites of Mesimeriani Toumba and Archondiko in Macedonia, northern Greece, dated to 2100-1900 cal. B.C. provide the basis for the experimental investigation of the effects of a) fragmentation before and after charring, b) treatment of grain with water and c) charring conditions, on the morphology of the fracture surface. The experiments indicate that it is possible to distinguish fragmentation before and after charring and, with low charring temperatures, it is possible to distinguish prior treatment of grain with hot water. Comparison of the archaeological grain with the grain produced experimentally suggests that both archaeologieal finds represent ground grain, and at least those from Mesimeriani correspond to some type of wheat bulgur, probably intended for human consumption. These finds mark the prehistoric origins of a foodstuff widely used in Mediterranean cuisine. Further experimentation along the lines followed here would be desirable. Received January 8, 2002 / Accepted April 1, 2002     

Grazing without grasses: Effects of introduced livestock on plant community composition in an arid environment in northern Patagonia

Question: How does grazing intensity affect plant density, cover and species richness in an Patagonian arid ecosystem? Location: Monte steppe ecoregion, SW Argentina. Methods: I analysed the effect of grazing on plant density, cover and species richness using a stocking rate gradient within the same habitat. Six paddocks were used with stocking rates ranging between 0.002 – 0.038 livestock/ha. Plant density, species richness, plant cover and percentage of grazed branches were determined by sampling plots within each paddock. The percentage of grazed branches was used as an independent measurement of grazing intensity. Results: Higher stocking rates were related to lower plant density, species richness and plant cover. The paddock with the lowest grazing intensity had 86% more plants per unit area, 63% more plant cover and 48% higher species richness. The percentage of grazed branches and the quantity of dung increased with stocking rate. Conclusions: Introduced livestock seriously affect native vegetation in the Patagonian Monte. The damage observed in this xerophytic plant community suggests that plant adaptations to aridity do not provide an advantage to tolerate or avoid grazing by vertebrate herbivores in this region. Plant degradation in this arid environment is comparable to the degradation found in more humid ecosystems.     

More than meets the eye: new archaeobotanical evidence on Bronze Age viticulture and wine making in the Peloponnese,Greece

Vegetation History and Archaeobotany - Viticulture and wine making have been at the heart of discussions concerning the Mycenaean society with elite groups which emerged in the Mediterranean during...     

Apple storage in northern Greece

Inadequate storage space and the expense of processing fruit mean surplus crops in Greece, although nearby countries, such as Israel, do not produce apples.     

Bronze Age crop processing evidence in the phytolith assemblages from the ditch and fen around Fondo Paviani,northern Italy

The Terramare civilization (ca. 1650–1150 cal bce) on the Po plain in northern Italy is considered to have been an agrarian society typical of the European Bronze Age, with a subsistence economy based on arable and livestock farming, and which showed some innovations such as the introduction of millets as cultivars. Some questions are still open concerning the agricultural system, the food and non-food uses of plant resources and the organization of labour at these sites. In this paper, for the first time, phytolith analysis has been integrated with more standard archaeobotanical methods applied to material from the long-lasting settlement of Fondo Paviani, Verona. The aim of the study was to use phytoliths as a tool to investigate the cereal economy in order to detect different grass subfamilies and possibly provide hints about local crop processing activities. For this purpose, two contexts, a shallow ditch at the edge of the site that had been filled with domestic waste and a near-site fen with natural infilling, have been the objects of a multi-proxy inter-disciplinary investigation. This includes the analyses of phytoliths, pollen, NPP, sediment texture and micromorphology. The phytolith record shows remains of panicoid as well as pooid grasses, including chaff material with frequent traces of threshing that indicate the processing of cereals at the site and the possible use of chopped straw as fodder. The comparison of different kinds of evidence strengthens the interpretation and offers a new perspective on the application of phytolith analysis to Bronze Age northern Italy.     

Tick infestation of dogs in Thessaloniki,northern Greece

Ticks were collected from 249 dogs, admitted over a one-year period (1996-1997) to a Veterinary Teaching Hospital and four private veterinary practices located in the county of Thessaloniki, Greece. A total of 2812 ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) were collected, of which 2511 (89.3%) were Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille) adults (1070 males, 1441 females), 156 (5.5%) R. turanicus Pomerantsev adults (35 males, 121 females), 100 (3.6%) Rhipicephalus spp. nymphs and 45 (1.6%) Rhipicephalus spp. larvae. Dogs living outdoors, in rural areas and in close proximity to farm animals, were infested with higher numbers of ticks than dogs living indoors. Tick attachment sites were recorded on 237 dogs, harbouring a total of 1711 ticks. The most heavily infested sites were, in decreasing frequency, the ear pinnae, neck, interdigital skin folds, trunk, head, ventrum, extremities and the tail. Cutaneous lesions at the attachment sites were noticed in 129 dogs and then mainly in the more severely infested animals.     

Human impact during the Bronze Age on the vegetation at Lago Lucone (northern Italy)

Lake-sediment records were used to reconstruct human impact on the landscape around Lago Lucone (45°33′N, 10°29′E, 249 m a.s.l.), a former lake in the western amphitheatre system of the Lago di Garda. Presence of prehistoric human populations is attested by pile-dwelling settlements from the Early-Middle Bronze Age, with one settlement at a distance of only 100 m from the coring site. Pollen, plant-macrofossil and microscopic charcoal analyses were applied to a 250 cm sediment core with four dates providing the time control. A mixed oak forest that was important during the Early-Middle Holocene was cleared and replaced by open vegetation during the Bronze Age (∼2000–1100 b.c.) when open lands were estimated to have covered more than 60% of the total relevant pollen-source area. During a phase of high human impact, independent climatic proxies suggest warm and dry climatic conditions. Later, ca. 1100 b.c., palaeobotanical evidence indicates a sharp decrease in human pressure in the Lago Lucone area. The comparison with other sedimentary palaeocultural records shows that the period 1300–1100 b.c. was characterised by general declines of agricultural activities both south and north of the Alps. These declines have been previously attributed to a change towards wetter and colder climatic conditions in and around the Alps. However, the decline in human impact around Lago Lucone cannot be exclusively attributed to climatic variation. Therefore other forcing factors independent of climatic changes, such as cultural crises or changes in spatial organisation of the habitats, cannot be ruled out under the present state of knowledge.     

Effects of herbivory and competition on an introduced plant in decline

Anthemiscotula was introduced to Denmark 500 years ago, and its distribution is presently limited and in decline. A manipulative field experiment was performed to investigate the effects of native plant competitors and native invertebrate herbivores on its performance. Generally, both herbivory and competition treatments had great impact, and when both factors were operating, the effects were additive for all variables except plant height. Although A. cotula showed plasticity in growth, resource allocation and flowering timing, it was unable to adjust to competition and compensate for losses due to herbivory sufficiently to ensure and restore its achene production. This vulnerability, combined with improved cereal cleaning techniques and thus fewer reintroductions of A. cotula seeds, may be the cause of its current decline. A. cotula responded to herbivory by prolonging its flowering period, a “bet-hedging” strategy. In Denmark this strategy is unreliable since risks of sub-optimal conditions are much greater in August–October. Received: 12 December 1997 / Accepted: 14 October 1998     

Age of the menarche of girls in Thessaloniki, Greece

In 1982-1983 a total of 977 girls from Thessaloniki has been investigated for their menarcheal ages, using the retrospective and the status quo methods. 565 of these girls aged between 11 and 18.5 years (age classes 1964-1972) were found to menstruate. The mean menarcheal age amounts to 12.0 years. The results are compared with corresponding data from literature. They confirm a clear secular trend for the menarcheal age in Greek population.     

Placental alkaline phosphatase polymorphism in northern Greece

The placental alkaline phosphatase (Aph) polymorphism was studied in Northern Greece. A new rare placental Aph variant was described.     

Ticks infesting domestic animals in northern Greece

The tick species infesting grazing animals in the countryside of 11 prefectures in Northern Greece were investigated during April-July and September-December of consecutive years 2003-2006. A total of 3,249 (1,952 males, 1,297 females) adult ticks were collected from goats, sheep, cattle and dogs. Ticks were identified as Ixodes ricinus (44.57%), Ixodes gibbosus (4.09%), Rhipicephalus bursa (19.14%), Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Rhipicephalus turanicus (5.79%), Hyalomma marginatum marginatum (12.40%), Dermacentor marginatus (0.31%) and Boophilus annulatus (4.43%). Rhipicephalus spp. and Hyalomma spp. were abundant in all prefectures, Ixodes spp. were present in 9/11 prefectures, Boophilus spp. in 4/11, while Dermacentor spp. were found only in one. Results of this study give an insight into the ecology of ticks and their potential of tick-borne diseases in the country.     

Gc and PGM subtypes in northern Greece

By isoelectric fucusing, Gc and PGM subtypes were examined in a sample of over 450 Greeks from Thessaloniki and surrounding areas. The gene frequencies are compared with those from other Greek and European samples.     

Enzyme polymorphism in placentae from northern Greece

Variations at the PGM1, GOTm, GOTs, and EsD loci were studied in placental samples from Northern Greece. The gene frequencies of GOTm and GOTs were found to be comparable with frequencies reported in other Caucasian populations. The frequencies of the EsD and PGMa11 alleles, however, were lower in Northern Greece than in other European populations.     

Feeding biology of bleak, Alburnus alburnus, in Lake Koronia, northern Greece

The feeding of bleak, Alburnus alburnus (L.), was studied in a natural eutrophic lake of northern Greece by an analysis of gut contents. Feeding was more intense during the first half of the day. Monthly analyses showed temperature-dependent feeding intensities, which were high during summer and the beginning of autumn and showed a decline in winter. The low feeding intensity in April coincided with the maximal value of the GSI. Bleak is a zooplankton feeder mainly, consuming Copepoda and Bosmina all the year round. During the hot period the diversity of its food increased. Other Cladocera, mainly Diaphanosoma , but also Moina, Daphnia and other less abundant genera, were found also. Meanwhile, Hydracarina and insect nymphs were found frequently, but in very low quantities. The size of bleak did not play an important role in its food composition. The stenophagic nature of its feeding could be explained in terms of the abundance of zooplankton in the environment. The influence of feeding intensity on the condition factor of the species is discussed.     

9. Flambouro,Pieria Mountains (northern Greece)

For the prevention of hay fever (H.F.) we must know each year, which are our allergenic plants, and where and when they pollinate. For that purpose we combine: clinical history and skin tests, information collected by a team of skilled botanists (who go out in the field once in two weeks, and determine according to the flower's developmental stage, when its pollination is to be expected) and data (both clinical and aerobiological) collected in previous years. This way we are able to start the administration of preventive medication in time, before the relevant season has started, and till its end. With our preventive treatment schedule, we got the following results in a group of 221 children from the area served by our clinic: in order to be kept H.F. symptoms free, out of the 221: 36, needed only antihistamines, 108, needed in addition cromolyn, and 72, topical steroids, in the remaining 15, medication was not satisfactory, and immunotherapy was applied successfully. We conclude that each H.F. patient should get his own individual preventive treatment schedule, established on the grounds of his personal, and the aerobiological data.