The plant economy of the Northern European Bronze Age—more diversity through increased trade with southern regions

In the paper, new carpological data from Pielgrzymowice site 9 are presented in the context of archaeobotanical finds from southern Poland. The results were obtained from detailed analyses of 45 samples from 38 archaeological features. Only charred plant remains were taken into account as they are considered contemporaneous with the Middle Bronze Age settlement. Among the cultivated plants, Panicum miliaceum, Triticum dicoccum, Triticum monococcum and Triticum sp. were documented. Among wild plants, several taxa were found, including Chenopodium t. album, Chenopodium sp., Melandrium / Silene, Polygonum lapathifolium and Fallopia convolvulus, among others. In archaeobotanical samples, Geranium sp., cf. Lamiaceae also appeared. In addition, plants typical of grasslands, forests and ruderal areas were noted, such as Coronilla varia, Rumex acetosella, Plantago media, Plantago lanceolata, Stellaria graminea and Hypericum perforatum. These results were compared with data coming from nine sites of the Trzciniec culture from Lesser Poland to track the Middle Bronze Age plant-based economy in southern Poland.

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A recipe for disaster: emerging urbanism and unsustainable plant economies at Early Bronze Age Ras an-Numayra, Jordan

Antiquity ◽

10.1017/s0003598x0010105x ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 88 (340) ◽

pp. 363-377 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Chantel E. White ◽

Meredith S. Chesson ◽

R. Thomas Schaub

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Fungal Pathogen ◽

Crop Production ◽

Arid Environment ◽

Dead Sea ◽

Early Bronze Age ◽

Agricultural Risk ◽

Farming Communities ◽

Plant Economy ◽

Farming Community

The intensification of agriculture as farming communities grew in size did not always produce a successful and sustainable economic base. At Ras an-Numayra on the Dead Sea Plain, a small farming community of the late fourth millennium BC developed a specialised plant economy dependent on cereals, grapes and flax. Irrigation in this arid environment led to increased soil salinity while recurrent cultivation of flax may have introduced the fungal pathogen responsible for flax wilt. Faced with declining yields, the farmers may have further intensified their irrigation and cultivation schedules, only to exacerbate the underlying problems. Thus specialised crop production increased both agricultural risk and vulnerability to catastrophe, and Ras an-Numayra, unlike other sites in the region, was abandoned after a relatively short occupation.

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New Data on Archaeobotany of the Lake Sevan Basin

Iran and the Caucasus ◽

10.1163/1573384x-20170302 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 251-276 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Roman Hovsepyan

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Principal Direction ◽

Main Direction ◽

Wild Plants ◽

Early Bronze Age ◽

Late Bronze Age ◽

Important Data ◽

Southeastern Part ◽

Lake Sevan ◽

Plant Economy

Recent archaeobotanical investigations (2013-2015) at three sites situated in the southeastern part of the Lake Sevan basin (Sotk-2, Norabak-1 and Sotk-1 settlements, and Sotk-10 cemetery) revealed important data on plant economy, agriculture, diet, and environment of the region during the Early Bronze Age, Middle-Late Bronze Age and Mediaeval periods. These materials show that agriculture was the main direction of plant economy to gain vegetal food staple, but it was likely accompanied also by gathering of wild plants. The principal direction of agriculture at the studied region was the cultivation of cereals for all the above-mentioned periods. Correspondingly, the main source of vegetal food were cereal-based products (presumably bread, porridges, etc).

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