The RBINS Quaternary charcoal collections : the example of three neolithic sites of Hesbaye (5150-4950 BC, Belgium)

Remicourt “En Bia Flo” II, Fexhe-le-Haut-Clocher “Podrî l'Cortri” and Waremme “Longchamps” are early neolithic sites (5300-5000 BC) situated in Hesbaye (Belgium). The sites present the same kind of organisation: a village stricto-sensu and a distant house. The charcoal analyses have shown, among others, that the distant house correspond to a pionneer occupation. The environment around the sites was composed by typical wooden taxa. After, the villages were occupied. At that time, the environment was more opened and diversified because of man activities.Remicourt “En Bia Flo” II, Fexhe-le-Haut-Clocher “Podrî l'Cortri” et Waremme “Longchamps” sont des sites du néolithique ancien (5150-4950 av. J.-C) situés en Hesbaye (Belgique). Les sites présentent le même type d'organisation : un village stricto-sensu et une maison distante. Les analyses anthracologiques, entre autres, ont montré que l'habitation éloignée du village correspond à une occupation pionnière. L'environnement autour des sites était composé de taxons typiquement forestiers. Le village a été occupé par la suite. L'environnent était alors plus ouvert et diversifié à cause des activités humaines

The opium poppy in Europe: exploring its origin and dispersal during the Neolithic

A new project aims to define the origins and dispersal patterns of the opium poppy in Neolithic Western Europe through a comprehensive programme of radiocarbon dating

Revisiting and modelling the woodland farming system of the early Neolithic Linear Pottery Culture (LBK), 5600–4900 B.C

International audienceThis article presents the conception and the conceptual results of a modelling representation of the farming systems of the Linearbandkeramik Culture (LBK). Assuming that there were permanent fields (PF) then, we suggest four ways that support the sustainability of such a farming system over time: a generalized pollarding and coppicing of trees to increase the productivity of woodland areas for foddering more livestock, which itself can then provide more manure for the fields, a generalized use of pulses grown together with cereals during the same cropping season, thereby reducing the needs for manure. Along with assumptions limiting bias on village and family organizations, the conceptual model which we propose for human environment in the LBK aims to be sustainable for long periods and can thereby overcome doubts about the PFs hypothesis for the LBK farming system. Thanks to a reconstruction of the climate of western Europe and the consequent vegetation pattern and productivity arising from it, we propose a protocol of experiments and validation procedures for both testing the PFs hypothesis and defining its eco-geographical area

The "joy plant": a tough factoïd

The opium poppy is of interest to several disciplines (medical, anthropology, geopolitics, etc.) and more particularly its use in medicinal or ritual recipes, since the ancient period in the Near East and in the Mediterranean area. It is precisely to illustrate the thousand-year-old narcotic use of the opium poppy that a factoid is still used today in scientific literature. It is the translation of the two ideograms Hul and Gil engraved about 4000 years ago on a clay tablet written in t..

Agricultural Dispersals in Mediterranean and Temperate Europe

International audienceAlong with ceramics production, sedentism, and herding, agriculture is a major component of the Neolithic as it is defined in Europe. Therefore, the agricultural system of the first Neolithic societies and the dispersal of exogenous cultivated plants to Europe are the subject of many scientific studies. To work on these issues, archaeobotanists rely on residual plant remains—crop seeds, weeds, and wild plants—from archaeologicalstructures like detritic pits, and, less often, storage contexts. To date, no plant with an economic value has been identified as domesticated in Western Europe except possibly opium poppy. The earliest seeds identified at archaeological sites dated to about 5500–5200 BC in the Mediterranean and Temperate Europe. The cultivated plants identified were cereals (wheat and barley), oleaginous plant (flax), and pulses (peas, lentils, and chickpeas). This crop package originated in the Fertile Crescent, where it was clearly established around 7500 BC (final Pre-Pottery Neolithic B), after a long, polycentric domestication process. From the middle of the 7th millennium BC, via the BalkanPeninsula, the pioneer Neolithic populations, with their specific economies, rapidly dispersed from east to west, following two main pathways. One was the maritime route over the northwestern basin of the Mediterranean (6200–5300 BC), and the other was the terrestrial and fluvial route in central and northwestern continental Europe (5500–4900 BC). On their trajectory, the agropastoral societies adapted the Neolithic founder crops from the Middle East to new environmental conditions encountered in Western Europe. The Neolithic pioneers settled in an area that had experienced a long tradition of hunting and gathering. The Neolithization of Europe followed a colonization model. The Mesolithic groups, although exploiting plant resources such as hazelnut more or less intensively, did not significantly change the landscape. The impact of their settlements and their activities are hardly noticeable through palynology, for example. The control of the mode of reproduction of plants has certainly increased the prevalence of Homo sapiens, involving, among others, a demographic increase and the ability to settle downin areas that were not well adapted to year-round occupation up to that point. The characterization of past agricultural systems, such as crop plants, technical processes, and the impact of anthropogenic activities on the landscape, is essential for understanding the interrelation of human societies and the plant environment. This interrelation has undoubtedly changed deeply with the Neolithic Revolution

Analyse anthracologique du site rubané de Remicourt “ En Bia Flo II ” (Hesbaye, Belgique) : premiers résultats

The Linearbandkeramik site of Remicourt “En Bia Flo II” consists of a village surrounded by an enclosure and an outlying house about 130 m to the west. The preliminary ceramic analyis indicates that the village is later than the house outside the enclosure. The charcoal spectra of the two areas are different. The area within the enclosure is characterized by the presence of pomoideae (29 %), a heliophilous taxon encouraged by human activity. The occupants of the area within the enclosure apparently lived in an en- vironment which had been more clearly modified by human activity.Remicourt “ En Bia Flo II ” est composé d'un village entouré d'une en- ceinte et d'une installation extra-muros située à 130 m plus à l'ouest. L'étude céramique préliminaire indique que l'occupation intra-muros serait posté- rieure à celle hors-enceinte. De même ces deux aires présentent un spectre anthracologique différent. La zone intra-muros est marquée par la présence des pomoïdées (29 %), taxon héliophile favorisé par l'activité humaine, absentes de la zone extra-muros. Les Rubanés ayant occupé le village stricto- sensu auraient évolué dans un milieu plus nettement anthropisé