Broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) is not one of the founder crops domesticated in Southwest Asia in the early Holocene, but was domesticated in northeast China by 6000 bc. In Europe, millet was ...reported in Early Neolithic contexts formed by 6000 bc, but recent radiocarbon dating of a dozen 'early' grains cast doubt on these claims. Archaeobotanical evidence reveals that millet was common in Europe from the 2nd millennium bc, when major societal and economic transformations took place in the Bronze Age. We conducted an extensive programme of AMS-dating of charred broomcorn millet grains from 75 prehistoric sites in Europe. Our Bayesian model reveals that millet cultivation began in Europe at the earliest during the sixteenth century bc, and spread rapidly during the fifteenth/fourteenth centuries bc. Broomcorn millet succeeds in exceptionally wide range of growing conditions and completes its lifecycle in less than three summer months. Offering an additional harvest and thus surplus food/fodder, it likely was a transformative innovation in European prehistoric agriculture previously based mainly on (winter) cropping of wheat and barley. We provide a new, high-resolution chronological framework for this key agricultural development that likely contributed to far-reaching changes in lifestyle in late 2nd millennium bc Europe.
The archaeobotanical research of the Stare Gmajne pile-dwelling site included analyses of samples taken from moss remains and vessel contents, as well as wood anatomical analyses of several wooden ...artefacts and charcoal pieces.The moss of two forest species and other macroremains provide evidences of human diet and gathering as well as surrounding vegetation in the Eneolithic (3521−3366 cal BC). The results show the inhabitants collected wild plants and cultivated crops, with six cultivars identified. For the wooden artefacts, they show the bow was made of yew and the rings of hazel. They also reveal significant differences between the two excavated trenches and between different stratigraphic units. Further research of the systematically sampled sediments will address questions concerning the possibility of detecting changes in water levels and the location of the Eneolithic settlement. What is already clear is that the organic remains in the present-day Ljubljansko barje soil are highly endangered.
Numerous fragments of
Cornus sanguinea
(dogwood) fruit stones were found in the cultural layer of the Late Neolithic pile dwelling site Strojanova voda at Ljubljansko barje, Slovenia, which indicate ...the Late Neolithic use of dogwood fruits. While these fruits are considered to be inedible, the research question about their use arose. Ethnobotanical and archaeobotanical sources were examined and experimental work on processing and using fresh
C. sanguinea
fruits was done, followed by chemical analyses of modern fruits (endocarps, mesocarps and exocarps) and archaeological fruit stones from the site. All these various approaches together suggest some possible uses. Fresh dogwood fruits can be crushed to give a soapy, creamy and oily emulsion with an exfoliant effect on the skin, which proved to be applicable, besides for oil, for cleaning and washing bodies, clothes and/or dishes. It can be concluded that Late Neolithic pile dwellers had a great knowledge of wild plants and their properties, and not only for food, and that the use of
C. sanguinea
fruits, at least south of the Alps, has been undervalued until now.
V članku so predstavljeni rezultati interdisciplinarnih raziskav naselbine v Stopercah, ki je bila raziskana leta 2009 ob gradnji vzporednega plinovoda v Halozah. V pozni neolitik je opredeljena ...jama (SE 128) s keramičnim inventarjem savske skupine lengyelske kulture, večina mlajših ostalin pa pripada naselju lasinjske kulture iz zgodnje bakrene dobe. Naselje je obsegalo v raziskanem delu vsaj štiri hiše, grajene s stojkami, zemljanko z ognjiščem in šest manjših lesenih objektov. Analiza najdb in rezultati datiranja z metodo radioaktivnega ogljika 14C po postopku AMS kažejo, da je poznoneolitska jama iz sredine 5. tisočletja pr. n. št., naselje lasinjske kulture pa iz konca 5. ali začetka 4. tisočletja pr. n. št. Arheobotanične analize kažejo, da so v zgodnji bakreni dobi za gradnjo uporabljali pretežno les venčasto poroznih listavcev, analize semen pa na gojenje vsaj dveh vrst pšenic (Triticum monococcum in T. dicoccum). Maloštevilni živalski ostanki pripadajo prašiču (Sus sp.).
V prispevku so objavljeni rezultati bioarheoloških (tj. antropoloških, arheozooloških in arheobotaničnih) raziskav grobišča Marof na Igu, kjer je bilo odkritih 28 grobov iz časa od druge ...polovice 1. st. do konca 3. oziroma začetka 4. st. Izsledki ponujajo vpogled v nekatere populacijske parametre in v pogrebne običaje antičnih Ižancev. Antropološka analiza je postregla z ugotovitvami o starostni in spolni strukturi pokojnikov, pa tudi o načinu sežiganja trupel. Analiza živalskih ostankov je pokazala domnevne primere obredno žrtvovanih in/ali pridanih (delov) živali, tako v smislu grobne popotnice/grobnega pridatka kot morda tudi stavbne daritve. Rezultati arheobotanične študije nedvoumnih sledi obrednih praks niso pokazali (razen morda prisotnosti ostankov fig), so pa ponudili vpogled v nabor tedanjih gojenih rastlin in v naravno rastje v okolici najdišča.
Environmental Archaeology and Palaeoecology:Palynology, Archaeobotany and ArchaeozoologyPlant and animal remains, which are found on archaeological sites and in lake/marsh sediments, are a good ...source of information about past economy, environment, food procurement, and the adaptation of people to changeable environmental conditions in various archaeological time periods. However, all these data need to be collected and interpreted. With the first manual presenting palynology, archaeobotany and archaeozoology fields of research in Slovenian language, this task should be more easily achievable.
V članku obravnavamo rezultate arheoloških raziskav na najdiščih Črnelnik in Devce na Ljubljanskem barju v letu 2014. Gre za dve novoodkriti najdišči iz obdobja, ko so na Ljubljanskem barju živeli ...koliščarji. Na podlagi interdisciplinarnih analiz uvrščamo kolišče na Črnelniku na začetek 4. tisočletja pr. Kr. Manj podatkov je pridobljenih z najdišča Devce, zato njegov značaj še ni ugotovljen. Postavljamo ga v čas med 4. in 2. tisočletjem pr. Kr.
V članku so predstavljeni rezultati arheobotaničnih raziskav s kolišč Strojanova voda in Maharski prekop. Gre za eneolitski kolišči iz okvirno sredine 4. tisočletja pr. n. št. z jugovzhodnega dela ...Ljubljanskega barja. Metodološka pristopa arheobotaničnih raziskav na koliščih se precej razlikujeta. Na Strojanovi vodi je vzorčenje potekalo leta 2012 z odvzemom stratigrafskih stolpcev sedimenta ter pripravo in pregledovanjem arheobotaničnih vzorcev z nežno metodo mokrega sejanja manjših količin sedimenta v laboratoriju. Maharski prekop je bil vzorčen leta 2005 s površinskim odvzemom večjih količin sedimenta iz kulturne plasti in pripravo vzorcev z grobo metodo spiranja na terenu ter pregledovanjem posušenih frakcij s sit. Rezultati obeh raziskav ponudijo nekaj skupnih zaključkov o prehranskih navadah eneolitskih koliščarjev. Nabirali so užitne rastlinske dele v naravi, predvsem gozdne sadeže in oreške, gojili so enozrno in dvozrno pšenico, ječmen, grah, mak in lan, morda tudi oljno ogrščico. Na Strojanovi vodi izstopajo številni strti ostanki semen/ plodov rdečega drena, sicer rastline z neužitnimi plodovi, namembnost tega še raziskujemo. Rastlinski ostanki so nam v pomoč tudi pri rekonstrukciji okoljskih razmer v neposredni bližini kolišč.
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