scholarly journals Developing a Reference Collection for Starch Grain Analysis in Early Neolithic Western Temperate Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1035-1053
Author(s):  
Clarissa Cagnato ◽  
Caroline Hamon ◽  
Aurélie Salavert ◽  
Michelle Elliott
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Paris Basin ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Starch Grains ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Plant Use ◽  
Starch Grain ◽  
Reference Collection

Abstract While we know that cereals played an important role in the diet of Linearbandkeramik (LBK) and Blicquy/Villeneuve-Saint-Germain (BVSG) populations in the Paris Basin, many questions remain to be answered as to the real contribution of other plants. To assess this topic, the recovery of other lines of data beyond macrobotanicals is crucial: starch grains have the potential to reveal additional information regarding past plant use. However, in Western Europe, in particular, for the Neolithic period, there is a significant lag in the development of the discipline. We, therefore, present how our current reference collection (composed of nearly 100 taxa spread across 35 families) was established, the reasoning behind our plant selections, and where the material comes from. Overall, our work shows that even though not all the selected plant organs produce diagnostic starch grains, it may be possible to broaden the spectrum of plants likely consumed by Early Neolithic (and beyond) populations in the Paris Basin, in particular concerning the use of wild plants and specific plant parts, especially underground storage organs (tubers, rhizomes, roots, bulbs, etc.). We believe our research will help guide future scholars in the creation of their own starch grain reference collection and to carry out such analyses on archaeological material from this region by consulting our image database. We conclude by providing a brief summary of what the starch grain record in the Paris Basin tells us to date on ancient plant use.

scholarly journals Neolithic Farming and Wild Plant Exploitation in Western Britain: Archaeobotanical and Crop Stable Isotope Evidence from Wales (c. 4000–2200 cal bc)

2019 ◽  
Vol 85 ◽  
pp. 193-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward R. Treasure ◽  
Darren R. Gröcke ◽  
Astrid E. Caseldine ◽  
Mike J. Church
Keyword(s):  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Nitrogen Isotope ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Wild Plant ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
North West ◽  
Wild Fruits ◽  
Cereal Grain ◽  
Plant Exploitation

The introduction of agriculture is a key defining element of the Neolithic, yet considerable debate persists concerning the nature and significance of early farming practices in north-west Europe. This paper reviews archaeobotanical evidence from 95 Neolithic sites (c. 4000–2200 cal bc) in Wales, focusing on wild plant exploitation, the range of crops present, and the significance of cereals in subsistence practices. Cereal cultivation practices in Early Neolithic Wales are also examined using cereal grain stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope analysis. The Early Neolithic period witnessed the widespread uptake of cereals alongside considerable evidence for continued wild plant exploitation, notably hazelnuts and wild fruits. The possibility that wild plants and woodlands were deliberately managed or altered to promote the growth of certain plants is outlined. Small cereal grain assemblages, with little evidence for chaff and weed seeds, are common in the Early Neolithic, whereas cereal-rich sites are rare. Emmer wheat was the dominant crop in the Early Neolithic, while other cereal types were recorded in small quantities. Cereal nitrogen isotope (δ15N) values from Early Neolithic sites provided little evidence for intensive manuring. We suggest that cultivation conditions may have been less intensive when compared to other areas of Britain and Europe. In the later Neolithic period, there is evidence for a decline in the importance of cereals. Finally, the archaeobotanical and crop isotope data from this study are considered within a wider European context.

scholarly journals Neolithic genomes reveal a distinct ancient HLA allele pool and population transformation in Europe

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Immel ◽  
Christoph Rinne ◽  
John Meadows ◽  
Rodrigo Barquera ◽  
András Szolek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Viral Infections ◽  
Human Leukocyte ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Leukocyte Antigen ◽  
Cultural Transformations ◽  
Farming Community ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
A Genome

AbstractThe Wartberg culture (WBC, 3,500-2,800 BCE) dates to the Late Neolithic period, a time of important demographic and cultural transformations in western Europe. We perform a genome-wide analysis of 42 individuals who were interred in a WBC collective burial in Niedertiefenbach, Germany (3,300-3,200 cal. BCE). Our results highlight that the Niedertiefenbach population indeed emerged at the beginning of the WBC. This farming community was genetically heterogeneous and carried a surprisingly large hunter-gatherer ancestry component (40%). We detect considerable differences in the human leukocyte antigen gene pool between contemporary Europeans and the Niedertiefenbach individuals whose immune response was primarily geared towards defending viral infections.

Gouges: Iconic Artifacts of the Early Neolithic Period in Central Sudan

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 505-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarína Kapustka ◽  
Lenka Lisá ◽  
Aleš Bajer ◽  
David Buriánek ◽  
Ladislav Varadzin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Central Sudan

scholarly journals New Radiocarbon Dates for the Early Neolithic of the Western Mediterranean

Radiocarbon ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 831-838 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel van Willigen ◽  
Irka Hajdas ◽  
Georges Bonani
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Regional Group

Understanding of processes that determined the expansion of farming and animal husbandry in south-western Europe is hampered by poor chronologies of the early Neolithic in this region. This paper presents new radiocarbon dates, which are used to construct such a chronological frame for a regional group of the most important culture of the early Neolithic in the western Mediterranean: the Cardial culture.

scholarly journals The Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in southern Iberia

2012 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Cortés Sánchez ◽  
Francisco J. Jiménez Espejo ◽  
María D. Simón Vallejo ◽  
Juan F. Gibaja Bao ◽  
António Faustino Carvalho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Sea Level Changes ◽  
North African ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Subsistence Strategies ◽  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
Population Turnover ◽  
Southern Iberia ◽  
Upwelling Intensity

New data and a review of historiographic information from Neolithic sites of the Malaga and Algarve coasts (southern Iberian Peninsula) and from the Maghreb (North Africa) reveal the existence of a Neolithic settlement at least from 7.5 cal ka BP. The agricultural and pastoralist food producing economy of that population rapidly replaced the coastal economies of the Mesolithic populations. The timing of this population and economic turnover coincided with major changes in the continental and marine ecosystems, including upwelling intensity, sea-level changes and increased aridity in the Sahara and along the Iberian coast. These changes likely impacted the subsistence strategies of the Mesolithic populations along the Iberian seascapes and resulted in abandonments manifested as sedimentary hiatuses in some areas during the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition. The rapid expansion and area of dispersal of the early Neolithic traits suggest the use of marine technology. Different evidences for a Maghrebian origin for the first colonists have been summarized. The recognition of an early North-African Neolithic influence in Southern Iberia and the Maghreb is vital for understanding the appearance and development of the Neolithic in Western Europe. Our review suggests links between climate change, resource allocation, and population turnover.

scholarly journals Changes of electrical conductivity under geotropic stimulation

1918 ◽  
Vol 90 (630) ◽  
pp. 349-363 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Helianthus Annuus ◽  
Vicia Faba ◽  
Differential Effect ◽  
Higher Plants ◽  
Starch Grains ◽  
Starch Grain ◽  
Sigmoid Curve ◽  
The Times ◽  
Logarithmic Relation

The very short perception period for the epicotyl and hypocotyl of various plants, which Fitting (3) has proved, and the presence of geotropic response in the absence of starch grains in many fungi and higher plants tend to indicate that the starch grain or statolith apparatus is not absolutely necessary for the perception of gravity by plants. The differential effect of gravity on the permeability of the upper and under sides of the pulvinus of Phaseolus indicates the possibility of a similar effect being produced in the roots of the plants. Fitting's numerous experiments were examined in order to ascertain whether the strength of the geotropic reaction bore any constant relation to the geotropic stimulus. Putting the data given in Fitting’s Table 10 [(3), Teil I, p. 282] in the form of a graph, we get a curve (fig. 1) which is logarithmic in the centre and shows divergences at the extremities, the ordinates being the ratios of the times of exposure at 90° to the times at other angles to the vertical, and the abscissæ being the angles with the vertical. In this way we get the strength of the reaction, which varies directly as the time of exposure, plotted against the strength of the stimulus, which varies directly as the angle with the vertical. The resulting graph is the typical sigmoid curve obtained by Waller (9) for the response by animals to various stimuli. This more or less logarithmic relation is also proved by the fifty-eight experiments on the perception of minimal angle differences by I the epicotyls of Vicia Faba and Phaseolus multiflorus and by the hypocotyls of Helianthus annuus , which Fitting (3, Teil I, pp. 306-310) has published (fig. 2).

starch grains in macerated cells

IAWA Journal ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-157
Author(s):  
Vinay R. Patel ◽  
Karumanchi S. Rao
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Scanning Electron Microscope ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Grain Shape ◽  
Cell Cytoplasm ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Starch Grains ◽  
Microscope Images ◽  
Starch Grain ◽  
Scanning Electron

A modified Jeffrey’s method for localization of starch grains in wood samples macerated between 15–25 °C is described here. Time and temperature played a crucial role in maintaining starch grain shape in cell cytoplasm. Starch grain shape in macerated xylem cells was confirmed by comparison with scanning electron microscope images and thin sections (10 to 15 μm thick) from the same wood samples.

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