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.

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 Plant economy of the Trzciniec culture based on charred plant remains from Pielgrzymowice 9 site, in the context of archaeobotanical finds from southern Poland

2021 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-186
Author(s):  
Magda Kapcia
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Plantago Lanceolata ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Cultivated Plants ◽  
Southern Poland ◽  
Plant Economy ◽  
Coronilla Varia ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Polygonum Lapathifolium

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.

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.

scholarly journals Holocene vegetation record of upland northern Calabria, Italy: Environmental change and human impact

The Holocene ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 633-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Sevink ◽  
Corrie C Bakels ◽  
Peter AJ Attema ◽  
Mauro A Di Vito ◽  
Ilenia Arienzo
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Forest Decline ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Pollen Data ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Climatic Event ◽  
Mobile Pastoralism

Earlier studies on Holocene fills of upland lakes (Lago Forano and Fontana Manca) in northern Calabria, Italy, showed that these hold important palaeoecological archives, which however remained poorly dated. Their time frame is improved by new 14C dates on plant remains from new cores. Existing pollen data are reinterpreted, using this new time frame. Two early forest decline phases are distinguished. The earliest is linked to the 4.2 kyr BP climatic event, when climate became distinctly drier, other than at Lago Trifoglietti on the wetter Tyrrhenian side, where this event is less prominent. The second is attributed to human impacts and is linked to middle-Bronze Age mobile pastoralism. At Fontana Manca (c. 1000 m a.s.l.), it started around 1700 BC, in the higher uplands a few centuries later (Lago Forano, c. 1500 m a.s.l.). In the Fontana Manca fill, a thin tephra layer occurs, which appears to result from the AP2 event (Vesuvius, c. 1700 BC). A third, major degradation phase dates from the Roman period. Land use and its impacts, as inferred from the regional archaeological record for the Raganello catchment, are confronted with the impacts deduced from the palaeoarchives.

Excavations at Mad Mans Window, Glenarm, Co. Antrim: Problems of Flint Exploitation in East Antrim

1992 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. C. Woodman
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Narrow Strip ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Flat Side ◽  
Neolithic Age ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Basalt Plateau ◽  
The Bronze Age

This study examines the archaeological significance of the material from a group of Neolithic chipping floors rescued during the rebuilding of the Antrim coast road, at Mad Mans Window, south of Glenarm, Co. Antrim. It shows that the lithic production strategies vary significantly between assemblages although it is presumed that they are all Neolithic in date and come from the same area of coast. It is apparent that flint axe production was of limited importance on these sites and that in spite of the abundance of flint available along the Antrim coast, relatively few polished flint axes were manufactured. Instead the numerous flint caches found in adjacent parts of the north-east of Ireland tend to produce scrapers and blades. Hoards containing arrowheads may be confined to the Bronze Age.Around 300 polished flint axes and roughouts are known from Ireland. These are frequently small and only partially polished. A limited number of highly polished axes with ground flat side facets have been designated sub-type A. The tendency to use porcellanite rather than flint for axe manufacture may be due to its ability to withstand robust shock.During the last 100 years, the role of flint as a key resource in the stone age of north-eastern Ireland has always been recognized but this has usually led to an uncritical assumption as to the paramount importance of flint. Work in recent years has shown that its significance in attracting and retaining Mesolithic settlement may have been over-emphasized.The role of the flint industries in the Irish Neolithic in this region has never been properly assessed, either in relation to older Mesolithic manufacturing traditions or in the broader context of supply to the Neolithic communities of this part of Ireland.In particular, good or even reasonable quality flint is usually only exposed in Cretaceous outcrops along a narrow strip on the edge of the basalt plateau and, therefore, has a very limited availability in parts of Co. Antrim as well as parts of Counties Down and Deny. As a contrast, erratic and beach flint is available in some quantity down the east coast of Ireland from Co. Down to Wexford. A second potential constraining factor is that unlike Britain, where flint was exploited for axe manufacture in the east and other rocks in the west, flint sources and porcellanite for axe manufacturing are both found adjacent to each other in the same corner of Co. Antrim. In particular, a number of more substantial chipping floors of Neolithic age are known, e.g. the opencast quarry sites at Ballygalley Head. The purpose of this study is to assess the role of flint production on the Antrim coast with particular reference to its significance in the Neolithic. This topic will be developed in the context of an analysis of the material found at Mad Mans Window near Glenarm.

scholarly journals KURO-ARAK MONUMENTS NORTH-EASTERN AZERBAIJAN: ISSUES OF HISTORICAL, CULTURAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION (based on the materials of archaeological exploration 2001-2002. on the International project IPARC).

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-210
Author(s):  
Philip L. Kohl ◽  
Rabadan G. Magomedov
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Project Leader ◽  
Wellesley College ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
North East ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Anthropological Research ◽  
East Azerbaijan ◽  
Deep Exploration

The article is devoted to the results of exploratory archaeological research in 2001-2002. in North-East Azerbaijan, incl. Khachmass-Cuban zone, within the framework of the IPARC project (The International Program for Anthropological Research in the Caucasus; project leader - Professor Wellesley College, USA F.L.Cole). Along with the study of the medieval Gilgilchay defensive system, an international expedition, in which Azerbaijani, Dagestani and American scientists participated, conducted an exploratory survey of 15 famous settlements of the Early Bronze Age. At one of the sites (Serkertepe), a deep exploration pit was laid, which gave a fundamentally new archaeological material. The first part of the article deals with the issues of the historiography of the archaeological study of this region of Azerbaijan, adjacent to Dagestan; provides an overview of exploration and monitoring of known Kuro-Arak settlements; outlines the prospects for their further scientific study. In the second part of the article, much attention will be paid to the characterization and analysis of the materials of the exploration pit at Serkertepe, and also a new concept of the historical, cultural and chronological interpretation of the Kuro-Arak monuments of Northeastern Azerbaijan in the framework of the Great Archaeological culture will be proposed.

scholarly journals Plant use in Muslim Spain: Preliminary results from the medieval town of Madīnat Ilbīra

2020 ◽  
pp. 296-306
Author(s):  
Maria Lityńska-Zając ◽  
Marian Rębkowski
Keyword(s):  
Taxonomic Diversity ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Hulled Wheat ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
Poppy Seeds ◽  
Wild Strawberry ◽  
Common Purslane ◽  
Muslim Spain ◽  
The Town

The paper presents preliminary results of archaeobotanical studies carried out at the Madīnat Ilbīra site in Spain. The functioning of the town, which was the capital of one of the administrative districts (kūras) of al- Andalus, falls in the period between the second half of the 9th century and the 11th century. However, the analysed soil samples were collected from archaeological contexts dated mostly to the last decades of the 10th century and to the 11th century. The samples yielded an interesting set of data about the preserved plant remains. Although the taxonomic diversity of the plants is not high, the analysis revealed remains of naked and hulled wheat (emmer wheat), millet, poppy seeds, perhaps peas, cucumber or melon, and grapevine. Although crop plants played an important role in the everyday diet of the town inhabitants, wild plants also were probably collected and used. The latter are represented in the analysed materials by, for example, wild strawberry, common mallow and common purslane. The preserved charcoal remains confirm the use of different species of wood as fuel.

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.

The Iron Age Enclosures and Prehistoric Landscape of Sutton Common, South Yorkshire

1997 ◽  
Vol 63 ◽  
pp. 221-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Parker Pearson ◽  
R.E. Sydes ◽  
S. Boardman ◽  
B. Brayshay ◽  
P.C. Buckland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
Archaeological Materials ◽  
Middle Bronze Age

The Early Iron Age enclosures and associated sites on Sutton Common on the western edge of the Humberhead Levels contain an exceptional variety of archaeological data of importance not only to the region but for the study of later prehistory in the British Isles. Few other later prehistoric British sites outside the East Anglian fens and the Somerset Levels have thus far produced the quantity and quality of organically preserved archaeological materials that have been found, despite the small scale of the investigations to date. The excavations have provided an opportunity to integrate a variety of environmental analyses, of wood, pollen, beetles, waterlogged and carbonised plant remains, and of soil micromorphology, to address archaeological questions about the character, use, and environment of this Early Iron Age marsh fort. The site is comprised of a timber palisaded enclosure and a succeeding multivallate enclosure linked to a smaller enclosure by a timber alignment across a palaeochannel, with associated finds ranging in date from the Middle Bronze Age to the Roman and medieval periods. Among the four adjacent archaeological sites is an Early Mesolithic occupation site, also with organic preservation, and there is a Late Neolithic site beneath the large enclosure. Desiccation throughout the common is leading to the damage and loss of wooden and organic remains. It is hoped that the publication of these results, of investigations between 1987 and 1993, will lead to a fuller investigation taking place.

scholarly journals CULT SANCTUARIES AS A SOURCE FOR THE STUDY OF IDEOLOGICAL IDEAS OF THE POPULATION OF DAGESTAN OF THE EARLY AND MIDDLE BRONZE AGE

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 678-703
Author(s):  
Gamzat D. Ataev ◽  
Туфан Исаак-оглу Ахундов
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Ancient Population ◽  
The North ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Rock Paintings ◽  
Religious Objects ◽  
Burial Grounds ◽  
Comprehensive Study

The article is devoted to the study of cult sanctuaries of the early and middle bronze age, which are one of the most important sources for the reconstruction of ideological ideas of the population of Dagestan. The work is based on the materials of settlements, burial grounds, research sanctuaries, attraction and analysis of religious objects, rock paintings, which reflect the ideological ideas of the ancient population of the North-Eastern Caucasus, and Dagestan, in particular. The purpose and objective of this article is a comprehensive study of religious sanctuaries and monuments of art, on the basis of which the study of ancient religious and ideological ideas of the local population in the early and middle bronze age. A comprehensive study of household, burial and religious monuments, the study of which reveals the various religious beliefs and rituals, as well as objects of worship of the population of Dagestan in the early and middle bronze age allowed to highlight many of the problems associated with the ideological beliefs of the local population. The considered materials show that the tribes of Dagestan in the early and middle bronze age had a fairly complex and developed ideology for that time. At the heart of the beliefs of ancient farmers and pastoralists, judging by the study of religious sanctuaries, rock paintings and hearths was the worship of various cults: fertility cults, agricultural cults, cults of animals, wood, etc. They are also expressed in different characters – solar, agricultural, female, etc. Their study helped to get an idea of the spiritual culture of the population of the region to reveal that the population of Dagestan during the early and middle bronze age there existed a complex and diverse beliefs.

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