Plant diversity and storage at Mandalo, Macedonia, Greece: archaeobotanical evidence from the Final Neolithic and Early Bronze Age

2003 ◽  
Vol 98 ◽  
pp. 1-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soultana M. Valamoti ◽  
Glynis Jones
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Wild Plant ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Crop Failure ◽  
Plant Resources ◽  
Animal Dung ◽  
Bitter Vetch ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

The charred plant remains from Final Neolithic and Early Bronze Age levels at Mandalo, Macedonia, Greece provide evidence for a broad range of crops and wild plant resources. There is clear evidence for the storage of some of these, in particular emmer, lentils and bitter vetch, but also barley, einkorn, Celtic bean, grass pea and acorns. There is also evidence for the possible storage and use of animal dung fuel, which has not previously been reported for Greece, and for the cultivation of flax dating back to the 5th millennium BC. The diversity of plant resources will have provided a ‘buffering mechanism’ against occasional crop failure, and the relationship of this to the proposed ‘marginal colonization’ of Greece is discussed. On the basis of the species found in animal dung, it is suggested that the arable and pastoral sectors were integrated, with relatively small numbers of animals grazed locally on stubble or fallow fields.

Neolithic/Early Bronze Age Pit Circles and their Environs at Oakham, Rutland

1998 ◽  
Vol 64 ◽  
pp. 293-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Clay ◽  
Clive R. Jones ◽  
Elaine L. Jones ◽  
Gary Haley ◽  
Elizabeth Healey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Land Use Patterns ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Surrounding Areas ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Fieldwork east of Oakham, Rutland has located evidence of prehistoric settlement, land use patterns, and ceremonial monuments. Part of this included the excavation of a cropmark site which has revealed an unusual sequence of Neolithic/Early Bronze Age pit circles and a burial area. This is complemented by a fieldwalking survey of the surrounding areas, allowing consideration of the relationship of juxtaposed flint scatters and the excavated ceremonial area.

An Early Neolithic Grave and Occupation, and an Early Bronze Age Hearth on the Thames Foreshore at Yabsley Street, Blackwall, London

2008 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 215-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Coles ◽  
Steve Ford ◽  
Andy Taylor ◽  
Sian Anthony ◽  
Rowena Gale ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Wild Plant ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Natural Sand ◽  
Peat Deposits ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Marked Decline ◽  
Sand And Gravel

Excavation on the Thames floodplain in London revealed traces of Early Neolithic occupation and burial on a sand and gravel bar beneath alluvium. A large expanse of peat also buried by alluvium was recorded between these finds and the modern river Thames suggesting that the occupation was situated on or close to the foreshore. A single grave cut into the natural sand contained a poorly preserved crouched inhumation, possibly of a woman. The burial was accompanied by a fragment of carinated bowl, a flint knife, and other struck flints. A radiocarbon date from an oak retaining plank within the grave of 5252±28 BP (4220–3970 cal BC: KIA20157) makes this burial one of the earliest from the British Isles and the earliest known for London. A scatter of struck flint and pottery predominantly of Early Neolithic date was recovered from adjacent areas of the sand. A nearby hearth contained fragments of Early Bronze Age pottery pointing to later prehistoric activity nearby. Charred plant remains indicate both the collection of wild plant foods and cultivated cereals in the Early Neolithic. Radiocarbon dating of the adjacent peat deposits indicated their rapid growth within the Middle Bronze Age with a marked decline in woodland cover at the start of the sequence and a rise in grassland and herb species. Cereal pollen then briefly became a significant component of the sequence before declining to more modest levels.

Charred plant remains from neolithic–bronze age Platia Magoula Zarkou, Thessaly

1993 ◽  
Vol 88 ◽  
pp. 1-3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glynis Jones ◽  
Paul Halstead
Keyword(s):  
Hordeum Vulgare ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Economic Diversification ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Triticum Dicoccum ◽  
Bitter Vetch ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
Middle Bronze Age

Charred plant remains of middle neolithic to middle bronze age date indicate the processing for storage or consumption of emmer (Triticum dicoccum), hulled six-row barley (Hordeum vulgare), bitter vetch (Vicia ervilia) and acorns (Quercus sp.). Samples of emmer, barley, and bitter vetch from an early bronze age destruction level are valuable evidence for economic diversification at a household level.

scholarly journals The role of plants in the economy of Tell Arbid, north-east Syria, in the Post-Akkadian Period and Middle Bronze Age

2013 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krystyna Wasylikowa ◽  
Rafał Koliński
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Hulled Wheat ◽  
North East ◽  
Hulled Wheats ◽  
Animal Dung ◽  
Bitter Vetch ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Middle Bronze Age

ABSTRACT Archaeological fieldwork carried out at the Tell Arbid site in north-eastern Syria exposed settlement remains dating from the early 3rd millennium BC to the mid 2nd millennium BC. Recent excavations in Sector P, on the eastern slope of the site, revealed the existence of a significant occupation of the Post-Akkadian/ Early Jazirah V period and of levels dated to the Early and Classic Khabur Ware/Old Jazirah/Middle Bronze Age I-II periods. Cereal remains were dominated by grains and ear fragments of hulled two-rowed barley Hordeum distichon. Less numerous were wheats represented by emmer Triticum dicoccon, einkorn T. monococcum, and macaroni wheat T. durum. The presence of bread wheat T. aestivum and six-rowed barley Hordeum vulgare could not be excluded. The two periods contained similar sets of cereals, but in the Post-Akkadian Period the percentage of hulled wheat remains was higher, while in the Middle Bronze Age (particularly in its younger phase) naked wheat slightly exceeded hulled wheats. Legumes were represented by only very few seeds of lentil Lens culinaris and bitter vetch Vicia ervilia. Diaspores of wild plants were very abundant, particularly those from the families of grasses and legumes. The considerable number of ear and culm fragments probably belonging to cereals as well as numerous seeds/fruits of wild plants suggests that the plant remains originated from fodder or animal dung or belonged to threshing waste. The presence of grass stems with nodes indicated that cereals were reaped low on the straw; occasional use of uprooting was suggested by the occurrence of basal culm fragments with traces of rootlets.

Later Bronze Age Activity in the Somerset Levels

1972 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. Coles
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Sixth Century ◽  
Third Century ◽  
Raised Bog ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

SummaryThe evidence of human activity in the Somerset Levels in the first millennium B.C. consists of wooden trackways laid across areas of developing raised bog, and joining small settlements on the higher, drier lands of the Poldens and the Wedmore ridge. The excavation of one of these tracks, of the sixth century B.C., is described. Stray finds of weapons and tools continue to be made by peat-cutters and by archaeologists; the most recent of these finds are a hazelwood peg or truncheon, and a sycamore tent peg, of the fourth or third century B.C. The relationship of the trackways and other finds to the marshside villages at Meare remains to be established.

scholarly journals Rock art and the prehistoric landscape of Galicia: the results of field survey 1992–1994

1995 ◽  
Vol 61 ◽  
pp. 347-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Bradley ◽  
Felipe Criado Boado ◽  
Ramón Fábregas Valcarce
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Field Survey ◽  
Rock Art ◽  
Outer Edge ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Copper Age ◽  
North West ◽  
Abrupt Changes ◽  
Ground Conditions ◽  
The Relationship

This paper discusses the relationship between the earlier prehistoric pattern of settlement in Atlantic Europe and the creation of rock art. It investigates the organisation of the Copper Age and Early Bronze Age landscape of north-west Spain using the evidence provided by the distribution, siting, and composition of rock carvings. It presents the results of field survey in three sample areas extending from the centre to the outer edge of their distribution. Although these drawings cannot be interpreted as illustrations of daily life, they may have helped to define rights to particular resources in an area which experienced abrupt changes of ground conditions over the course of the year.

An Early Bronze Age Cremation Cemetery at Beggarwood Lane, Basingstoke, Hampshire

2019 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-35
Author(s):  
Ray Kennedy ◽  
Richard Massey ◽  
Sharon Clough ◽  
Katie Marsden ◽  
E R McSloy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Unknown Function ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Agricultural Activity ◽  
Archaeological Excavation ◽  
Related Material ◽  
Single Feature ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
Field Boundaries ◽  
Excavation Area

An archaeological excavation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology in February 2016, on land at Beggarwood Lane, Basingstoke, Hampshire. The excavation area was targeted on archaeological features identified by evaluation.<br/> Excavation identified a small Early Bronze Age cremation cemetery, comprising twenty-three pits containing deposits of cremated bone or pyre debris, seven of which were associated with urns. The identified vessels included both collared urn and 'food vessel' types, which are well-represented in cremation cemeteries of this date elsewhere in Hampshire. Cremated human bone was recovered from only nine features, of which three were associated with urns and six were unurned.<br/> Two pits contained possible evidence of post settings, and a small number of undated features had no association with cremation-related material, and were of unknown function.<br/> A single feature, of Roman date, contained a deposit of iron nails which, together with charred plant remains, suggested settlement or agricultural activity in proximity to the site. A number of ditched field boundaries of post-medieval date were identified during the evaluation.<br/> The Early Bronze Age cremation cemetery represents a rare example of its type in southern England, and one of at least regional importance.

Radiocarbon Dates and Stable Isotope Data from the Early Bronze Age Burials in Riigiküla I and Kivisaare Settlement Sites, Estonia

Radiocarbon ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 645-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mari Tõrv ◽  
John Meadows
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Agricultural Communities ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir ◽  
Relationship Of

Four inhumations from Kivisaare and Riigiküla I settlement and burial sites were dated in the course of a project about hunter-gatherer mortuary practices in Estonia, as they were believed to belong to the Stone Age. However, these burials appear to be Early Bronze Age inhumations instead, and thus are discussed separately in the present article. These burials are the first evidence in Estonia of a long-lasting tradition of inhumations without any visible aboveground structures. As the archaeology of the Early Bronze Age in Estonia is poorly known, these four inhumations contribute immensely to our understanding about this time period. Moreover, stable isotope values show that these people had a more terrestrial subsistence strategy than Stone Age hunter-gatherers. Nevertheless, aquatic resources were probably still significant components of their diet, particularly at Kivisaare, and the radiocarbon dates could therefore be subject to significant freshwater reservoir effects. This creates ambiguity in the chronological relationship of these four individuals to burials in stone-cist graves, which are attributed to the Late Bronze Age and which appear to be associated with fully agricultural communities.

scholarly journals Navigating Inland: Bronze Age Watercraft and the Lakes of Southern Sweden

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney Nimura ◽  
Peter Skoglund ◽  
Richard Bradley
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Rock Art ◽  
Southern Sweden ◽  
Inland Lakes ◽  
Southern Scandinavia ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Lake Vänern

The rock art of southern Scandinavia is characterized by depictions of watercraft. The majority are close to the coast, and they have been the primary focus of research. Less attention has been paid to similar representations associated with two large inland lakes in southern Sweden. In this article we present the results of fieldwork around Lake Vänern and Lake Vättern and consider the relationship of this rock art to the better-known images on the coast. We explore the practicalities of navigating between the sea and the interior and suggest that there was an important contrast between an early eastern sphere extending to Lake Vättern from the Baltic and a later western sphere connecting Lake Vänern with the Atlantic.

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