New archaeobotanical finds of Isatis tinctoria L. (woad) from Iron Age Gaul and a discussion of the importance of woad in ancient time

Although chemical analyses of textile remains have traced the use of Isatis tinctoria L. (woad) back to the Neolithic period, archaeobotanical remains of the plant are scarce in north-western Europe, especially in France. A new discovery in the rural settlement of Roissy, north of Paris, raises the question of local cultivation of woad from at least the fifth–fourth century b.c. (La Tène A/B1) in northern Gaul. The plant assemblage comes from the filling of a storage pit, which also included a wide variety of cultivated plants. These data represent a valuable contribution to the study of the circumstances of the adoption of woad as a new crop.     

Flax for oil or fibre? Morphometric analysis of flax seeds and new aspects of flax cultivation in Late Neolithic wetland settlements in southwest Germany

The transition from the early to the middle phase of the Late Neolithic (fourth–third millennium b.c.) is closely connected with the term “secondary products revolution”, which involves the adoption of animal traction and an increased production of rendered animal commodities such as wool and dairy products. Based on measurements of Linum usitatissimum L. (flax) seeds and their abundance in 32 wetland settlements in southwest Germany, we presume that the introduction of a new flax variety, maybe a better flax for fibre, and the intensification of flax cultivation were also a part of this process. The morphometric analysis shows that flax seed sizes in the early phase of the Late Neolithic (4000–3400 cal. b.c.) differ significantly from those of the middle and latest phase (3400–2400 cal. b.c.).     

From foraging to farming in the Great Mazurian Lake District: palynological studies on Lake Miłkowskie sediments, northeast Poland

Early and mid Holocene local vegetational history, with special reference to woodland communities, was revealed by pollen analysis of a radiocarbon dated lake sediment profile from Lake Miłkowskie (Jezioro Miłkowskie) in northeastern Poland. The main factor controlling the dynamics of woodland composition changes until ca. 1950 b.c. was climate. After that, the role of human activity became increasingly important. The results of high-resolution pollen analyses provide evidence for early woodland disturbances caused by Mesolithic people at ca. 6950 b.c. Several episodes of human impact, differing in scale, and separated by subsequent episodes of woodland regeneration/stabilization were noted. The first traces of local crop farming, shown by the presence of Cerealia pollen, were recorded at ca. 3800 b.c. in the Paraneolithic/Neolithic period. Animal husbandry as well as cereal cultivation played only a marginal role in the economy, which was traditionally based on hunting, fishing and gathering through the Neolithic and the early Bronze Age. The change in economic strategies from foraging towards farming, starting around 3750 b.c., was a long-lasting process. An increase of productive economy took place in the middle Bronze Age at ca. 1400 b.c.     

Mid- to late-Holocene vegetation history of Greater Exmoor,UK: estimating the spatial extent of human-induced vegetation change

This paper presents the results from three pollen profiles from a group of small spring mire sites on the southern edge of Exmoor in south west England. The size and topography of these sites allow detailed local landscape histories around each site to be reconstructed which broadly cover the mid- to late-Holocene. Comparison of the individual local landscape histories demonstrates the scale of spatial variation in vegetation around the upland edge, and facilitates understanding of human-landscape interactions from the early Neolithic onward. In the early Neolithic significant short-term woodland disturbance is recorded around the upland fringe, including clearance of oak-hazel-elm woodland, suggesting that the shift from Mesolithic to Neolithic is not marked by a gradual environmental transition. Following this, there is clear evidence of Neolithic management of upland heath using fire, presumably for the management of upland grazing. Woodland clearances are recorded throughout the later Prehistoric period; however, the use of multiple profiling suggests that woodland clearance is spatially discrete, even within an area of 4 km². Pastoral land use is dominant around the uplands until around 900–1,000 a.d., and there is no discernible Roman or post-Roman period impact in the vegetation, suggesting cultural stability from the late Iron Age to the early Medieval period. By 1,100 a.d., there is a shift to mixed arable-pastoral farming which appears to continue well into the post-Medieval period.     

Retting pits for textile fibre plants at Danish prehistoric sites dated between 800 b.c. and a.d. 1050

During the last decade, a new type of structure has been found at several archaeological sites in Denmark. These structures can be interpreted as having been used for retting the stems of textile plants such as Linum usitatissimum L. (flax), Cannabis sativa L. (hemp) and Urtica dioica L. (nettle). In order to obtain fine threads for textile production, these plants need to pass through several biological and technical processes. The first process is the retting of the plant stems to dissolve the pectin which fixes the fibres to the stalk. This can either be done by water retting, where the plant stems are soaked in lakes, rivers or waterlogged pits, or by field retting, where the stems are laid out in a field in order to absorb dew. The first method is shorter in time and the process is easier to control. In this article, details of archaeological structures are presented from eight sites in southern Scandinavia that can be interpreted as textile plant retting pits. The constructions of the pits are described, as well as the archaeological contexts and the relevant associated archaeobotanical records. Some of the presented sites, of which the oldest are dated to the late Bronze Age and early pre-Roman Iron Age (800–250 b.c.) and the youngest to the Viking Age (a.d. 750–1050), indicate a large-scale production of flax that had been underestimated up to now.     

Flax cultivation and textile production in Neolithic wetland settlements on Lake Constance and in Upper Swabia (south-west Germany)

At present there are substantial amounts of archaeological and archaeobotanical data from the Late Neolithic wetland settlements of southern Germany on the oil and fibre plant flax (Linum usitatissimum L.). This is the result of 30 years of intensive excavations and research in 53 settlement areas. This article, on the one hand, will present the significance of flax remains, products made of flax and the inventory of relevant tools for evidence of and reconstruction of the flax production processes. On the other hand, based on the quantitative analysis of flax remains, the changing significance of this important cultivated plant during the course of the Late Neolithic will be demonstrated. From this it will be evident that textile production and in particular flax processing were part of a decisive upheaval in cultural development that initiated the transition to the middle phase of the Late Neolithic in the fields of agriculture and technology.     

Temporal cultural landscape dynamics in a marginal upland area: agricultural expansions and contractions inferred from palynological evidence at Yttra Berg, southern Sweden

Agrarian history and local cultural landscape dynamics have been documented through pollen analysis of a peat core within the hamlet of Yttra Berg, which is situated in an upland area of southwest Sweden. The sequence covers the last 5,000 years, from Neolithic to modern time. Wood pasturing started at 2000 b.c., followed by grazing and small-scale cultivation with 500 year cycles from 650 b.c., and permanent fields of agriculture from a.d. 1150. The area was abandoned during the period a.d. 1350–1550. Three cycles of succession related to land-use have been identified for the period 650 b.c. to a.d. 1550. Correlation with frequent clearance cairns in the area is discussed. Recessions of agriculture/settlement during the late Middle Ages and late modern time are documented. Pollen data indicate increased landscape and plant diversity since the Neolithic, closely linked to openness of the agrarian landscape. These results are important for landscape restoration.     

Prehistory of plant growing and collecting in northern Italy, based on seed remains from the early Neolithic to the Chalcolithic (c. 5600–2100 cal b.c.)

The stages of the early Neolithic and the spread of agriculture in northern Italy are difficult to determine and basically still unclear, since this region was influenced by deeply different cultures coming from both the Mediterranean coasts and the Balkans. The complex interrelations due to the contributions from both cultures are reinterpreted here thanks to recent data, modifying a picture which 15 years ago was believed to be definite. According to radiocarbon chronology, the appearance of the earliest farming communities in northern Italy should be dated around 5600–5500 cal b.c. Early farmers cultivated several cereal and pulse taxa, of which the more important were Hordeum vulgare/distichum, Triticum dicoccum, T. monococcum, T. aestivum/durum/turgidum, Lens culinaris and Pisum sp. In addition they gathered many wild plants. The spread of agriculture was a rapid phenomenon and within a few centuries agriculture was established into the Alps. Little is known about the middle and late Neolithic, with the Square-mouthed pottery culture “Bocca Quadrata”, from c. 5100 cal b.c. onwards, since most of the archaeological features discovered up to the present have produced only a few plant remains. We demonstrate the introduction of poppy and a few other innovations like a slightly increased cultivation of free-threshing cereals and flax. Archaeobotanical analyses from Chalcolithic or Copper Age settlements, from c. 3500 cal b.c. onwards, are even scarcer and a comparison with the earlier Neolithic settlements does not yet seem possible.     

New evidence of possible crop introduction to north-eastern Europe during the Stone Age

Long term (from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age) habitation of the Akali settlement on a clearly defined bog-island in East Estonia is used as an example of transitional development from a prosperous foragers’ habitation centre to a hinterland of established farming cultures, taking place through availability, substitution and consolidation phases of crop farming in the boreal forest zone. The pre-Neolithic finds of Triticum and Cannabis t. pollen at c. 5600 b.c. are interpreted as possible indications of the acquaintance of foragers with farming products, through contacts with central European agrarian tribes during the availability phase. The substitution phase is marked by more or less scattered pollen finds of various cereals and hemp and, at Akali, is connected with Neolithic period 4900–1800 b.c. An increasing importance of crop farming in the economy is characteristic of the consolidation phase, but because natural conditions are unfavourable for arable land-use, a regression of human presence is recorded during the second part of the Neolithic. The settlement was abandoned during the Bronze Age at the time when crop farming become the basis of the economy in Estonia. The re-colonisation of the area, traced to ca. a.d. 1200, took place for political reasons rather than through increasing suitability of the landscape.Editorial responsibility: Felix Bittmann     

Closed forest or open woodland as natural vegetation in the surroundings of Linearbandkeramik settlements?

Deciduous woodland can be reconstructed as the potential vegetation cover of most parts of the Chernozem (black earth) loess areas settled by the early Neolithic farmers of the Bandkeramik culture in the sixth millennium b.c. The character of the woodland as closed, with few light-demanding plants, or more open is very important for the potential of an agricultural system. Botanical results are not able to indicate the composition of the woods quantitatively, but they can give indirect hints. It is discussed whether these archaeobotanical results, in combination with the characteristics of the wild and domesticated herbivores identified, can be interpreted with regard to the density of the woodland cover in Neolithic times. The use of the floodplains as pasture is interpreted from pollen analytical results.     

Anthracological analysis from Kovacevo, southwest Bulgaria: woodland vegetation and its use during the earliest stages of the European Neolithic

Wood charcoal analysis from Kovacevo in southwest Bulgaria, one of the earliest Neolithic sites in southeastern Europe, provided information about the first stages of anthropogenic impact on vegetation during the Early Neolithic (6159–5630 cal b.c.). Deciduous oak was the most abundant and frequently used taxon in the wood charcoal assemblages. Cornus charcoal was also abundant, probably connected with the use of its twigs as building material in wattle and daub structures. The dominant deciduous oak forest was opened during the Kovacevo I period, as shown by evidence from the Kovacevo Ia and Kovacevo Ib occupation phases. Other types of vegetation, like Black pine (Pinus nigra) woodland, riverine forests and some sub-Mediterranean elements, were used only sporadically, indicating high and sustained availability of wood resources in the oak forests. Anthropogenic impacts were gradual, a pattern that matches contemporary studies elsewhere in the region.     

The diet of Eneolithic (Copper Age, Fourth millennium cal b.c.) pile dwellers and the early formation of the cultural landscape south of the Alps: a case study from Slovenia

Analyses were performed of plant remains from the Late Neolithic (in Slovenian terminology corresponding to Eneolithic or Copper Age, ca. 4300–2300 b.c.) pile dwelling Hočevarica in the Ljubljansko barje (Ljubljana Moor), Slovenia. This settlement existed between ca. 3650 and 3550 cal b.c. Seeds, fruits, wooden piles, macroscopic charcoal and pollen from the cultural layers were analysed. The remains of domestic plants such as charred grains of Hordeum vulgare (barley), Triticum monococcum, T. dicoccum (einkorn and emmer wheat) and Papaver somniferum (poppy seeds), as well as seeds of weeds such as Chenopodium album-type indicate early cultivation in the area. In addition, numerous remains of nuts and berries, especially of Quercus sp., Cornus mas, Rubus fruticosus and Corylus avellana demonstrate that the gathering of wild plants was an important part of subsistence. Palaeoecological and archaeobotanical data from Hočevarica further suggest that cleared land was used for agriculture and pastures during the Neolithic, and that different wood was cut for construction and for fuel. The species assemblage from Hočevarica is very similar to those recovered from northern Alpine lake dwelling sites, however, several new taxa (e.g. Lathyrus sativus, Vicia sp.) appear in the assemblage. One of the most surprising finds is the seed of wild grape (Vitis vinifera ssp. sylvestris), which are the oldest on-site remains of grapevine from Slovenia.     

Cotton cultivation and textile production in the Arabian Peninsula during antiquity; the evidence from Mada��in Salih (Saudi Arabia) and Qal��at al-Bahrain (Bahrain)

The discovery of seeds and textiles from Gossypium (cotton) in Achaemenian levels of the mid-6th–late 4th century b.c. at Qal’at al-Bahrain, Bahrain and in early 1st millennium a.d. at Mada’in Salih, Saudi Arabia, reveals the role played by the Arabian Peninsula as a textile production centre during the centuries before and after the beginning of the Christian era. Both these sites were situated on important trade routes, overseas (Qal’at al-Bahrain) and overland (Mada’in Salih), and it is likely that at least part of the cotton production was intended for trade, complementing and perhaps competing with other sources of cotton textiles in the contemporary Middle East. In the arid climate of the Arabian Peninsula, cotton was probably grown in association with irrigated date palm gardens where a wide array of other crops was grown, as is shown by the analysis of charred seeds and wood from occupation levels at both sites. The present article places these particular finds in the larger context of cotton cultivation in the Middle East and India.     

Neolithisation at the site Brandwijk-Kerkhof, the Netherlands: natural vegetation, human impact and plant food subsistence

Brandwijk-Kerkhof (ca. 4600 to 3630 cal b.c.) is a Neolithic site, located on a river dune in the Dutch Rhine/Maas river area. The natural vegetation and human impact upon it have been investigated by analysis of pollen and macroremains from four cores that are located at increasing distances up to 20 m from the site. The relationship between the strength of human impact on the vegetation and the distance of the cores from the river dune has been investigated as well. The results show that the natural vegetation on top of the river dune consisted of deciduous woodland, while in the surrounding wetlands alder carr and eutrophic marsh vegetation dominated. Human impact of limited strength resulted in more open and disturbed vegetation. There is no correlation between the strength of the evidence of human impact in the pollen diagrams and the distance of the cores from the river dune. The evidence for presence of crop plants from the cores is compared with evidence from the excavation. The first presence of crop plants from ca. 4200 b.c. onwards corresponds with data from other Dutch wetland sites. Large-scale local crop cultivation cannot however be demonstrated. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

The spread of agriculture in northern Iberia: new archaeobotanical data from El Mirón cave (Cantabria) and the open-air site of Los Cascajos (Navarra)

This paper presents archaeobotanical results from the Neolithic levels (5,300–4,000 b.c.) of two recently excavated sites in northern Iberia: El Mirón cave (Cantabria) and the open-air site of Los Cascajos (Navarra). A cereal grain from El Mirón is currently the earliest domesticated plant remain from this region. Despite the large number of samples examined, plant remains are few. They include basically cereals (Triticum monococcum, T. dicoccum, T. aestivum/durum/turgidum and Hordeum vulgare) and some nuts and fruits (Corylus avellana, Quercus sp., Vitis sp., etc.). The presence of free-threshing wheats at El Mirón opens up an interesting subject for debate, as until now naked wheats have been absent from the early Neolithic archaeobotanical record of the coastal Cantabrian region. Hulled wheat chaff is the main plant component from Los Cascajos, south of the Cantabrian Cordillera in Navarra, indicating waste from processing activities. The association of barley almost exclusively with both a burial and a ritual vase in Los Cascajos could be related specific rituals or ceremonies.     

Early plant domestications in southern India: some preliminary archaeobotanical results

Analysis of flotation samples from twelve sites in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh (south India) provides clear evidence for the predominant subsistence plants of the Neolithic period (2,800–1,200 cal b.c.). This evidence indicates that the likely staples were two pulses (Vigna radiata and Macrotyloma uniflorum) and two millet-grasses (Brachiaria ramosa and Setaria verticillata) which were indigenous to the Indian peninsula. At some sites there is evidence for limited cultivation of wheats (Triticum diococcum, Triticum durum/aestivum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare), and a few crops that originated in Africa, including hyacinth bean (Lablab purpureus), pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) and finger millet (Eleusine coracana). In addition there is evidence for cotton (Gossypium sp.), and linseed (Linum sp.), as well as gathered fruits of Ziziphus and two Cucurbitaceae. This evidence suggests that the earliest agriculture in south India, dating to the third millennium b.c., was based on plants domesticated in the region, and that subsequently from the late 3^rd millennium b.c. through the 2^nd millennium additional crops from other regions were adopted into the subsistence system.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00334-004-0036-9     

A comparison of early Neolithic crop and weed assemblages from the Linearbandkeramik and the Bulgarian Neolithic cultures: differences and similarities

The spread of early agriculture from the Mediterranean to central Europe is still poorly understood. The new subsistence reached western central Europe during the second half of the 6th millennium cal b.c. This paper presents a comparison of crop and weed species from 33 Bandkeramik sites from Austria and Germany and six Bulgarian Neolithic sites. The aim is to investigate whether the early cultivation system brought in from the eastern Mediterranean was adapted to European conditions in Bulgaria or further West. Some characteristics of the potential weeds are interpreted with respect to the cultivation systems and the origin of the species.     

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.     

Malic acid accumulation by Aspergillus flavus

Summary Scanning electron microscopy revealed that Aspergillus flavus produced unusual crystals and hair-like processes during its l-malic acid production phase. Crystallinic dendritic aggregates were formed on the hyphae growing as pellets. The size and number of crystal aggregates increased during the fermentation in parallel with l-malic acid accumulation. The crystals (composed of calcium malate as well as small amounts of calcium succinate and calcium fumarate) were removed from the hyphae, after incubation with 6N HCl. On day 5 of the fermentation, about 9% of the total amount of l-malic acid produced was accounted for by the attached crystals. In addition to crystal formation we observed the appearance of hair-like processes during the early phase (2 days) of malic acid production only.     

Plant subsistence and environment at the Mesolithic site T?gerup, southern Sweden: new insights on the “Nut Age”

Pollen was analysed from a sediment sequence collected in the close vicinity of the Mesolithic settlement T?gerup, southern Sweden. Macroremains were also retrieved from numerous samples taken at the site of the archaeological excavations of Kongemose and Erteb?lle settlement phases, 6700–6000 b.c. and 5500–4900 b.c. respectively. Plants and other organic remains were well preserved in the refuse layers from the settlements embedded in the gyttja. The pollen record includes no clear indications of human impact on the vegetation during the Mesolithic. The occurrence of charcoal particles and pollen of grass and herbs associated with nutrient-rich soils are contemporaneous with the Kongemose settlement. The Erteb?lle settlement phase, although characterised by considerable dwelling activities less than a hundred metres from the pollen sampling site, is scarcely seen in the pollen data. Numerous finds of crushed dogwood stones from the Kongemose phase, often partly carbonised, suggest that these stones were used for the extraction of oil. Other plants found in the Kongemose refuse layers that may have been used are apples, cherries, raspberries, acorns and rowan-berries. Based on the abundance of hazelnut shells found at the studied site and in other studies of Mesolithic sites in southern Scandinavia it is proposed that these remains may testify to an important food supply rather than just use as a supplement to animal protein. It is also hypothesised that a regional decrease in hazel populations and thus hazelnut availability at the end of the Mesolithic may have motivated the adoption of Neolithic subsistence.