Terrestrial isopods were studied in the Dubravica peat bog and surrounding forest in the northwestern Croatia. Sampling was conducted using pitfall traps over a two year period. Studied peat bog has ...a history of drastically decrease in area during the last five decades mainly due to the process of natural succession and changes in the water level. A total of 389 isopod individuals belonging to 8 species were captured. Species richness did not significantly differ between bog, edge and surrounding forest. High species richness at the bog is most likely the result of progressive vegetation succession, small size of the bog and interspecific relationships, such as predation. With spreading of Molinia grass on the peat bog, upper layers of Sphagnum mosses become less humid and probably more suitable for forest species that slowly colonise bog area. The highest diversity was found at the edge mainly due to the edge effect and seasonal immigration, but also possibly due to high abundance and predator pressure of the Myrmica ants and lycosid spiders at the bog site. The most abundant species were Trachelipus rathkii and Protracheoniscus politus, in the bog area and in the forest, respectively. Bog specific species were not recorded and the majority of the species collected belong to the group of tyrphoneutral species. However, Hyloniscus adonis could be considered as a tyrphoxenous species regarding its habitat preferences. Most of collected isopod species are widespread eurytopic species that usually inhabit various habitats and therefore indicate negative successive changes or degradation processes in the peat bog.
Udbina – Gradina je jedini lokalitet iz razdoblja kasnog srednjeg (15. stoljeće) – novog vijeka (16. – 17. stoljeće) s većom količinom arheobotaničkih ostataka do sada analiziran na području ...Hrvatske. Na lokalitetu je nađena veća količina krupnozrnih žitarica u čijem sastavu je najdominantnija nepljevičasta pšenica (Triticum aestivum grupa) te manja količina korovnih primjesa. Napravljen je pregled karpoloških rezultata do sada istraženih i objavljenih srednjo- i novovjekovnih lokaliteta na području Hrvatske te usporedba s novoistraženim lokalitetom udbinske Gradine.
Udbina – Gradina is the only site from the Late Middle Ages (15th century) to the Post-Medieval Period (16th–17th century) with a considerable amount of archaeobotanical remains analysed so far in Croatia. A significant quantity of large-grain cereals was found onsite, the most dominant of which was free-threshing wheat (Triticum aestivum group), as well as a smaller quantity of weed admixtures. We present an overview of the carpological results of the thus far researched and published medieval and post-medieval sites in Croatia and provide a comparison with the newly researched site of Udbina – Gradina.
This paper presents the results of the first extensive archaeobotanical research into a Bronze Age site in Croatia. The aim of the study was to reveal what plants were consumed (grown) at ...Kalnik-Igrišče (NW Croatia) in the Bronze Age and to realize if the plant diet of the local population differed from that of the inhabitants in neighboring countries. The results show that all plant macrofossils found at Kalnik-Igrišče can be classified into one of four functional groups: cereals, cultivated legumes, useful trees and weeds. As much as 98% of the findings are of cereals and legumes. The most abundant species found are Panicum miliaceum (millet), Hordeum vulgare (barley), Vicia faba (faba bean), Triticum aestivum ssp. aestivum (bread wheat), Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccon (emmer wheat) and Lens culinaris (lentils). The findings from Kalnik-Igrišče do not differ from the findings of neighboring countries, indicating that there were similar diets and agricultural/plant-collecting activities throughout the whole of the studied area (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia, Italy, Austria and Hungary).
Grains from ear to ear Reed, Kelly; Sabljić, Sanela; Šoštarić, Renata ...
Vegetation history and archaeobotany,
11/2019, Letnik:
28, Številka:
6
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Cereals were a significant part of the Roman diet, yet knowledge about their cultivation, distribution and consumption in certain regions is particularly lacking. In Europe, studies generally suggest ...that from the Iron Age to the Roman period there was a reduction in barley cultivation, an increase in spelt over emmer, a preference for free-threshing wheat over glume wheats, as well as the increased cultivation of rye and oats. Up till now, there was little evidence on crop cultivation in Croatia, but the discovery of around 24,000 cereal grains from the oven of a 2nd-4th c. ad Roman villa in the modern town of Osijek provides important insights into diet and subsistence in the Roman province of Pannonia. Here, the dominance of free-threshing wheat, spelt and rye with only a relatively small amount of other cereals, chaff and weeds corresponds well with this pattern seen elsewhere in Europe. The relatively clean grain deposit suggests that this sample represents processed grain ready for final food preparation and consumption at the villa. The morphological variation and overlap seen between the carbonised spelt and free-threshing wheat grains, as well as the identification of ‘stunted’ cereal grains, is also discussed.
U radu su analizirani biljni makroostaci na glinenim ulomcima s organskim primjesama s nalazišta Nadin – Gradina u sjevernoj Dalmaciji. Ulomci keramičke posude većih dimenzija skladišne namjene ...potječu iz jednog zatvorenog naseobinskog konteksta (SJ 419) datiranog radiokarbonskom metodom u razdoblje starijeg željeznog doba, odnosno u vremenski okvir posljednje četvrtine 9. st. pr. Kr. do sredine 8. st. pr. Kr. Organske primjese korištene su od najranijh vremena u smjesi za izradu keramike kako bi se utjecalo na svojstva konačnog keramičkog produkta. Takvi sušeni ili pečeni keramički predmeti sadrže tragove korištenja biljnih primjesa u vidu otisaka i biljnih ostataka. Identificirani biljni ostaci većim dijelom potječu od ostataka vršidbe žitarica: pšeno, stabljike i listovi te pljeve i ostaci klasa. Na temelju analize otisaka i ostataka biljnih primjesa bilo je moguće determinirati krupnozrne žitarice: ječam (Hordeum sp.) i pšenicu (Triticum sp.) te sitnozrne: proso/muhar (Panicum/Setaria sp.). Od ostalih nalaza pronađeni su tragovi masline (Olea europaea) i drijena (cf. Cornus mas) te skupine trava (Poaceae). Otisci i ostaci biljnih primjesa u keramici često ostaju nezamijećeni, iako predstavljaju vrijednu dopunu klasičnoj analizi biljnih makrofosila, a time i dodatne podatke o gospodarskim strategijama i okolišu zajednice koja je keramiku proizvela.
The paper analyses plant macroremains on clay sherds containing organic inclusions from the Nadin – Gradina site in northern Dalmatia. Sherds of a large pottery vessel intended for storage have been found in a closed settlement context (SU 419), dated using radiocarbon method to the Early Iron Age, that is, to the period between the last quarter of the 9th century BC and the middle of the 8th century BC. Organic inclusions in pottery pastes have been used since the earliest times with the intention of influencing the properties of the final ceramic product. Such dried or fired pottery contains traces of the plant temper employed, in the form of imprints and plant remains. The identified plant remains consist mainly of remains of cereal threshing: grains, stems and leaves, glumes and remains of ears. The analysis of the imprints and remains of plant temper allowed us to identify large-grained cereals – barley (Hordeum sp.) and wheat (Triticum sp.) – and small-grained cereals: broomcorn/foxtail millet (Panicum/Setaria sp.). Among other finds, there are traces of olive (Olea europaea) and cornelian cherry (cf. Cornus mas), and of grasses (Poaceae). The imprints and plant inclusions in pottery often remain unnoticed, but they are a valuable complement to the classical analysis of plant macrofossils, and provide additional information on the economic strategies and environment of the community which produced the pottery.
•The terrestrial isopod community in the fen was impoverished due to the high water table, which suppressed colonization from adjacent habitats.•The exception was Ligidium germanicum, which ...maintained stable populations in the fen.•Successional changes promoted higher isopod activity density due to the lower water table and higher vegetation complexity compared to the fen.•Preservation of hydrological conditions in the fen is essential for suppressing colonization of forest and generalist species.
Peatlands in the Western Balkans are becoming rapidly reduced due to vegetation succession, further enhanced by climate change and abandonment of traditional land management practices. Currently, the peatlands of this region act as habitat islands embedded mainly in a forest landscape matrix. This allows them to host more forest and generalist species of animals and plants than would be expected from such ecosystem. We were interested in testing if a taxon, unspecialized for such extreme habitats, can maintain stable populations in a peatland, and how environmental fluctuations affect its spatio-temporal distributions along a successional gradient. Terrestrial isopods were sampled in four habitat types: a fen, two successional habitats and a beech forest, with pitfall traps during two consecutive years. In total, 1069 individuals belonging to five species were recorded. Activity density increased more than four-fold along the successional gradient, from the fen to an older and more complex successional habitat. This pattern was governed by an increase in the structural complexity of the habitat, where succession habitats supported more favourable shelter sites for terrestrial isopods. Soil moisture decreased over 30% along the successional gradient. Additionally, the older successional habitat was more nutrient rich than the fen, providing higher substrate quality for decomposers and enabling the survival of forest species. The fen was inhabited by a single species, Ligidium germanicum, while other species were extremely rare. Its seasonal activity started in the spring, reaching the maximum in June and decreasing at the end of summer. Spatial changes in isopod assemblages along the successional gradient imply that the groundwater level in the fen was sufficiently high to supress the invasion of forest species into the fen. Colonisation of the fen by terrestrial isopods will likely progress as environmental conditions become more suitable by progressive vegetation succession and climate change.
The aim of this archaeobotanical and archaeological research is to expand knowledge about Roman diet and plant cultivation in Istria and to compare it with similar localities on the Eastern Adriatic ...coast. We have also tried to find some new information about maritime trade routes in the Mediterranean area in ancient times. Out of 27 samples collected from an excavated Roman port in Flacius Street in Pula, in total, 9809 plant macrofossils were recovered, identified and analysed. The results of the analysis show that most of the plant remains belong to the group of fruit trees and nuts. The most abundant are the remains of
Ficus carica
,
Pinus pinea
,
Vitis vinifera
subsp
. vinifera
,
Rubus fruticosus
agg. and
Olea europaea
subsp.
europaea
. These are all species that are widespread in the Mediterranean area and have likely always been consumed by the local population. The number of ruderal and weed species found is relatively high (31) in comparison with other plant categories (fruit trees and nuts; fruit collected from the wild; cereals; condiments; oil crops; vegetables and tubers; plants of fresh water environments; elements of maquis), but as they came to the site accidentally and not by targeted human activity, there are far fewer macrofossils of such plants than those of cultivated species. There were a few elements of evergreen forest vegetation and plants of aquatic habitats at the site (2 + 1), which suggests the existence of this type of vegetation in the area of the site in Roman times. Archaeobotanical comparisons of the site in Flacius Street with similar coastal Roman sites—Verige Bay on Veli Brijuni (first-fifth century
ad
), the port of Zaton near Nin (first-third century
ad
) and Caska Bay on the island of Pag (first and second century
ad
)—reveal considerable similarities, confirming the uniformity in nutrition and plant growth in the wider coastal area. Together with the two Roman ships, during the archaeological excavations of the Roman harbour and its layers, we collected over 2000 different archaeological artefacts out of which a large number was almost perfectly preserved. Some of the mentioned artefacts include ceramic
amphorae
, ceramic table- and kitchenware, ceramic lamps, different usable objects made of glass, wooden use objects, parts of ship’s equipment and other wooden tools, architecture elements from the nearby port as well as residential structures and remains of stone monuments. Because of the large amount of artefacts found at the site, the analysis of the artefacts and data processing are still in progress. As a contribution for recognizing organic remains, we isolated the
amphorae
whose purpose was the storage and maritime transportation of different food products and ingredients.
Roxb., an East Asian plant species naturalised in many parts of the European continent, has been recorded for the first time in Croatia in two anthropogenic habitats in Varaždin city (NW Croatia). ...This study reports the newly discovered localities and presents the characteristics of the new alien species in the flora of Croatia. A determination key is given for
taxa registered in Croatia and neighbouring countries.
The Iron Age site of Kaptol-Gradci belongs to the south-eastern periphery of the Hallstatt cultural complex, dominated primarily by the Kaptol cultural group, and encompasses a hillfort settlement ...and necropolis. During the investigation campaigns organized to date, 25 tumuli have been identified and 17 of them investigated. This paper presents the first results of the analysis of plant remains from a Hallstatt necropolis in Croatia, from tumuli 6 and 7, identified as an integral part of the complex burial ritual. In both tumuli, the predominant finds were of cereal grains (83% in tumulus 6 and 96.9% in tumulus 7). Besides the cereal grains, a very small quantity of weeds representing accidental associations have also been identified, as well as remains of wild fruits collected in the countryside. On the basis of the first results obtained from the archaeological site of Kaptol-Gradci and the scarce archaeobotanical research into Hallstatt necropolises in Europe, the conclusion can be drawn that a potential pattern can be observed, an element of a complex burial ritual in which cereal grains (overwhelmingly dominant in terms of their relative proportions) played an important role, together with various fruit deposits, whose type and quantity probably depended on the season, their availability in the environment and/or the possibility of their storage/preservation.
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