New insights into agriculture in northwestern France from the Bronze Age to the Late Iron Age: a weed ecological approach

Vegetation History and Archaeobotany - New plant macrofossil studies in northwestern France enable a better insight into agriculture through the Bronze and Iron Age. Most of the previous analyses,...     

Food storage in two Late Bronze Age caves of Southern France: palaeoethnobotanical and social implications

This paper presents new archaeobotanical results from two previously studied Late Bronze Age caves situated in Southern France, Balme Gontran and Baume Layrou. At each site a thick black layer, characterised by a very high density of charred seeds, is shown to be composed of the remains of burnt crop stores. In Baume Layrou a small proportion of desiccated plant remains was preserved in addition to the bulk of carbonised material. In Balme Gontran, Triticum spelta and Panicum miliaceum predominated and were independently stored. Lens culinaris, Vicia faba and Setaria italica were secondary species of some importance and could have been stored as well. Storage at Baume Layrou was above all composed of hulled Hordeum vulgare, Triticum spelta and P. miliaceum. Other possibly stored species were Triticum aestivum/durum/turgidum, T. dicoccon and V. faba. It seems that most of the crops were grown in pure stands, with the exception of S. italica and Triticum monococcum which may have been mixed in small proportions with common millet and emmer respectively. Crops were stored in ceramic vessels, probably also in bags and wooden containers like baskets. Millet grains were stored in their husks while glume wheats were dehusked. Dehusking before storage does not seem to have been the common practice at the time. It seems moreover rather unsuitable for grain storage in caves. In Baume Layrou a small proportion of cereal kernels had started to germinate, presumably due to the humidity of the cave. We are making the assumption that the caves were not used for usual long term storage but to store food supplies for a small group of people who intended to live here for a short period, perhaps taking refuge during disturbed times. Crops could have been dehusked to reduce the weight and volume of the load to transport to the caves on steep and difficult paths.     

New insights into Late Bronze Age settlement and farming activity in the southern Burren,western Ireland

Vegetation History and Archaeobotany - This paper is a palaeoenvironmental investigation into prehistoric farming activity in the southern Burren, a distinctive karst landscape in western...     

Land-use patterns and cultural change in the Middle to Late Bronze Age in Ireland: inferences from pollen records

In Ireland, the Middle to Late Bronze Age (1500–600 cal b.c.) is characterised by alternating phases of prolific metalwork production (the Bishopsland and Dowris Phases) and apparent recessions (the Roscommon Phase and the Late Bronze Age-Iron Age transition). In this paper, these changes in material culture are placed in a socio-economic context by examining contemporary settlement and land-use patterns reconstructed from the pollen record. The vegetation histories of six tephrochronologically linked sites are presented, which provide high-resolution and chronologically well-resolved insights into changes in landscape use over the Middle to Late Bronze Age. The records are compared with published pollen records in an attempt to discern if there are trends in woodland clearance and abandonment from which changes in settlement patterns can be inferred. The results suggest that prolific metalworking industries correlate chronologically with expansion of farming activity, which indicates that they were supported by a productive subsistence economy. Conversely, declines in metalwork production occur during periods when farming activity was generally less extensive and perhaps more centralised, and it is proposed that disparate socio-economic or political factors, rather than a collapse of the subsistence economy, lie behind the demise of metalworking industries.     

Agricultural resources in the Bronze Age city of Tel Lachish

Vegetation History and Archaeobotany - In this paper, we present the results of the plant macrofossil analyses from the site of Tel Lachish, Israel with focus on the botanical assemblage of the...     

Analysis of the fuel wood used in Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age copper mining sites of the Schwaz and Brixlegg area (Tyrol,Austria)

Charcoal analysis was carried out as part of an interdisciplinary project focusing on the copper mining history of the former mining area of Schwaz and Brixlegg, a region pivotal as a copper source in prehistoric Europe. The goal was to use remains of carbonised wood to investigate environmental implications of prehistoric mining, as well as to gain new insight about the ancient mining technique of fire-setting. Charcoal samples from seven copper mining sites (Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age) were analysed. The results reveal a strong preference for coniferous wood as fuel in fire-setting, but not in ore smelting/roasting processes. Species composition at the ore-processing sites indicates moderate forest degradation processes caused by human intervention.     

New evidence on the southeast Baltic Late Bronze Age agrarian intensification and the earliest AMS dates of Lens culinaris and Vicia faba

Vegetation History and Archaeobotany - This article explores the Late Bronze Age agrarian intensification in the south-east Baltic. In recent years several studies have illustrated that to date...     

Dendrochronological analyses of wood samples from a Late Bronze to early Iron Age site at Lake Luokesa,Lithuania

Tree rings of 184 archaeological wood samples from two Late Bronze to early Iron Age lake sites at Lake Luokesa (Luokesai e?eras), Lithuania, Moletai district, were analyzed. Despite severe difficulties with synchronization, Pinus (pine), Quercus (oak) and Alnus (alder) yielded some cross-datable series. The general picture is that the settlers chose small trees as timber, which they used in their natural round shape. The trees did not grow in homogeneous even-aged stands, but show very different ages and growth levels. Despite the generally low numbers of tree rings in the individual samples, the strong archaeological framework allowed cross-dating of some series and the building of chronologies for single structures. Based on these attempts, a 90 year long first floating chronology of the settlement structures is presented. Luokesa Site 2 (L2) was mainly built within the relative year 53. Luokesa Site 1 (L1) was certainly in use from the relative year 74 onwards. All fences at L1 show their main building activity in the relative year 81, four years after the main building activities in the village itself. It can be concluded that the settlement L1 was in use for at least 16 years. Because of the lack of a standard dendrochronological curve for the Baltic region, wiggle-matching was applied to obtain an absolute date for both settlements. The data clearly show that all samples relate to the Late Bronze–early Iron Age. The period where all wiggle matching results overlap is the period between 625 and 535 bc (the 2σ ranges are given). Based on the dating, duration and timber characteristics of the occupation, comparisons with Polish early Iron Age sites are made, which indicate a close resemblance in terms of wood use and settlement concept.     

Living in wetlands in the southeastern Baltic region during the Late Bronze to early Iron Age: the archaeological context of the Luokesa lake settlements

The prehistoric lake settlement tradition is spread far beyond the region of the Alps, and it has been known for a long time that lake settlements are not a characteristic of one particular area. The present paper presents the results of the first comprehensive, interdisciplinary investigations of such types of sites in Lithuania, the two lake settlements at Lake Luokesa (Luokesai e?eras). They were excavated with underwater archaeology techniques between 2000 and 2011. They are Late Bronze to early Iron Age transition (LBA–EIA) in date and were probably built and inhabited during a short period between 625 and 535 cal bc. The excavated archaeological material contains a wealth of well-preserved wooden architectural details and other organic materials. Therefore, the importance and unique character of these sites is beyond question. This paper gives an overview of the history of research on lake settlements in northeastern Europe. In addition, the archaeological material of the LBA–EIA settlements at Lake Luokesa is evaluated in the context of the other lake settlements in the southeastern Baltic region. Existing hypotheses and interpretations of the origins, development and use of the lake settlements of this region are discussed. All the investigations which have been done, including archaeobotany, palynology, dendrochronology and geoarchaeology, provide data for a well-grounded interpretation and reconstruction of the Luokesa lake settlements.     

A fossil earthworm embryo (Oligochaeta) from beneath a Late Bronze Age midden at Potterne, Wiltshire, UK

An embryonic earthworm (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae), preserved with part of its cocoon wall by calcium phosphate mineralization, has been extracted from a deposit beneath a Late Bronze Age midden in southern England. The structure, possible identity and significance of the specimen are discussed.     

Spinal arthritis and physical stress at Bronze Age Harappa

This study examines joint changes in the vertebral skeleton in human remains excavated in 1987 and 1988 at Bronze Age Harappa, an urban center of the Indus Valley civilization. The sample consists of 23 complete skeletons from primary burial context, the partial remains of more than 69 other individuals, and hundreds of skeletal elements from secondary context, totalling 3,084 vertebral joint margins and articular surfaces. Marginal bone proliferation, pitting of articular surfaces, eburnation, and ankylosis were scored macroscopically for vertebral body margins and surfaces and posterior apophyseal facet joints. Marginal lipping is far more prevalent on the vertebral bodies than on the apophyseal facets and surface pitting is also more frequent on vertebral bodies although its expression is relatively low overall. Cervical vertebrae in this sample exhibit the same amount of marginal new bone and much more surface pitting of the vertebral bodies than do either thoracic or lumbar vertebrae; the cervical segment also exhibits the most severe expressions of both types of lesions. In addition, although the frequencies of cervical and lumbar posterior facet involvement are similar, the cervical facets exhibit much more severe lipping as well as the only cases of eburnation and ankylosis. Pitting of the posterior facets is most common in the lumbar segment, but the cervical examples are the only severe cases. It is proposed that the severe joint changes in the cervical spine result from trauma, perhaps accumulated microtrauma from activity stresses. There are no age or sex associated patterns in the frequency of arthritis although this result may be influenced by the small proportions of the total sample for which age and sex could be determined. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Plant Resources from the Bronze Age and the first Iron Age in the northwestern arc of the Mediterranean Basin

This paper updates the question of plant resources during the Bronze Age and First Iron Age in the northwestern Mediterranean Basin. Among the cereals, six-row hulled barley is dominant throughout the territory, whereas naked and hulled wheats take on greater or lesser roles from region to region. Millet cultivation developed during the Bronze Age and became widespread in the First Iron Age. Apart from cereals, pulses, oil species and fruit appear to be secondary. Results from the study of archaeobotanical remains on wetland sites, however, lead us to question this finding, as oil plants and fruits are much better represented in waterlogged conditions. The cultivation of vine began in the First Iron Age. In spite of a number of characteristics common to plants throughout the study area, regional differences, evident in the Bronze Age, seem to dissipate in the First Iron Age.     

青铜时代中晚期辽西地区农业活动特征

辽西地区城子山遗址和夏家店遗址农作物种子遗存研究显示,城子山地区青铜时代中期以旱作农业种植为主.粟的栽培比例要明显高于黍.青铜时代晚期的夏家店地区属半农半牧区,存在黍与粟为主的旱作农业种植,但黍的栽培比例要远高于青铜时代中期的城子山地区.干旱化可能是导致夏家店地区青铜时代晚期黍栽培比例升高的主要原因.城子山和夏家店地区农业种植结构在青铜时代晚期可能已有所不同,但这2个地区农业种植的差异究竟从何时开始,仍是一个需要继续深入研究的问题.