Fishing Nets and String at the Final Mesolithic and Early Neolithic Site of Zamostje 2, Sergiev Posad (Russia)

Altres ajuts: Funding information: O.L. was funded by the Program of FSR SAS no FMZF-2022-0012. M.B.-A. is currently funded by a MSCA-IF-2019 (GA No. 893735) and during part of this research was an Alexander von Humboldt post-doc fellow. R.P. was funded by ICREA Academia Program.The site Zamostje 2, located in Sergiev-Posad district of Moscow (Russia) on the west bank of the Dubna River, has provided two Mesolithic and one Early Neolithic occupations dated from 7000 to 5400 cal BC. Thanks to the waterlogged environment, the site has an exceptional preservation. The site has yielded fishing screens, fishing fences, wooden fishing traps, and several small cordage remains elaborated with plant fibres, pine bark floats, fragments of paddles, and other wooden objects. In this work, we present the study of the fragments of cordage and fishing nets with the objective of providing new insights into the production and use of implements made of plant fibres. We have characterized the production process by analysing the morphological and technical characteristics by carrying out experimentation with plant fibres in order to obtain reference material to recognize them at an archaeological level. The analysis of 82 knots and 23 fragments of strings has allowed to determine that they were elaborated with single threads from 0.5 to 1.5 mm thick, which is noticeably smaller than most examples from other sites. All of them were elaborated with woody bast fibres

Mashes to Mashes, Crust to Crust. Presenting a novel microstructural marker for malting in the archaeological record

The detection of direct archaeological remains of alcoholic beverages and their production is still a challenge to archaeological science, as most of the markers known up to now are either not durable or diagnostic enough to be used as secure proof. The current study addresses this question by experimental work reproducing the malting processes and subsequent charring of the resulting products under laboratory conditions in order to simulate their preservation (by charring) in archaeological contexts and to explore the preservation of microstructural alterations of the cereal grains. The experimentally germinated and charred grains showed clearly degraded (thinned) aleurone cell walls. The histological alterations of the cereal grains were observed and quantified using reflected light and scanning electron microscopy and supported using morphometric and statistical analyses. In order to verify the experimental observations of histological alterations, amorphous charred objects (ACO) containing cereal remains originating from five archaeological sites dating to the 4th millennium BCE were considered: two sites were archaeologically recognisable brewing installations from Predynastic Egypt, while the three broadly contemporary central European lakeshore settlements lack specific contexts for their cereal-based food remains. The aleurone cell wall thinning known from food technological research and observed in our own experimental material was indeed also recorded in the archaeological finds. The Egyptian materials derive from beer production with certainty, supported by ample contextual and artefactual data. The Neolithic lakeshore settlement finds currently represent the oldest traces of malting in central Europe, while a bowl-shaped bread-like object from Hornstaad–Hornle possibly even points towards early beer production in central Europe. One major further implication of our study is that the cell wall breakdown in the grain's aleurone layer can be used as a general marker for malting processes with relevance to a wide range of charred archaeological finds of cereal products

El papel de los recursos vegetales no leñosos en las economías cazadoras-recolectoras propuesta para el estudio de su gestión: el caso de Tierra del Fuego (Argentina)

El desarrollo técnico y metodológico de la arqueobotánica permite, desde hace más de cuatro décadas, recuperar los macrorrestos vegetales de la matriz arqueológica. Sin embargo, la determinación de la génesis antrópica de los conjuntos arqueobotánicos y la interpretación de la información derivada del estudio de los mismos, siguen siendo dos cuestiones abiertas en el estudio de la relación entre las comunidades humanas y el medio vegetal. Quizás esta problemática sea más acusada en los casos en que nos enfrentamos al estudio de sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras y a la gestión de recursos silvestres. En este trabajo abordamos en primer lugar ambas cuestiones, desde un punto de vista teórico y proponiendo un modelo de análisis para comprender la gestión de los recursos vegetales por parte de sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras que incide en el estudio de los procesos de trabajo implicados en su explotación. Asimismo, se exploran las características de los recursos vegetales a nivel biológico, social y nutricional, como fuente de alimento y materias primas. En segundo lugar, se lleva a cabo el estudio arqueobotánico de cuatro yacimientos excavados en Tierra del Fuego (Argentina). Los sitios están asociados a las sociedades selknam y yámana, y en ellos se han recuperado por primera vez en esta zona una cuantiosa cantidad de semillas y macrorrestos vegetales, la mayoría de ellos pertenecientes a frutos comestibles (Empetrum rubrum), pero también con otros usos (como Galium sp. o distintos ejemplares de la familia de las Cyperaceae). Este estudio arqueobotánico inaugura la oportunidad de contrastar la información etnográfica con la arqueológica, a la hora de conocer el papel de los recursos vegetales en las estrategias de subsistencia de las sociedades fueguinas. Además la información arqueobotánica nos brinda la posibilidad de comparar registros derivados de condiciones ambientales y sociales diferentes. Por otro lado, de la implementación de nuestra propuesta de análisis podemos concluir que nos ayuda a visualizar y a recapacitar sobre todas las posibles modalidades de consumo de un taxón; que nos hace estar más alerta a la hora de reconocer los procesos de trabajo a nivel arqueológico, y que su combinación con la información etnobotánica y experimental nos ayudará a entender mejor cómo fue la gestión de un recurso, pudiendo conocer cuestiones como la cantidad de fuerza de trabajo necesaria para su explotación, las herramientas empleadas en la misma, etc. Por último, esperamos que el desarrollo de esta línea permita en el futuro que la combinación de la información así generada con el resto de datos arqueológicos, sirva para caracterizar las sociedades estudiadas con la mayor precisión posible, de cara a conocer cómo fue su organización.Nowadays, technical and methodological progress in archaeobotany permits, for more than four decades, the recuperation of vegetal macrorremains from the archaeological matrix. Currently, the determination of the human origin of the archaeobotanic record and the interpretation of the information result of its study, remain two open questions in the exploration of the relation between human societies and vegetal environment. Maybe this problem turns out to be accentuated when we study hunter-gatherer societies or the management of wild resources. In the present work we explore both questions from a theoretic viewpoint and suggest a model of analysis, to understand the management of plant resources by hunter-gatherer societies, that points on the study of the labor processes related to their exploitation. Furthermore, the characteristics of plant resources are explored on their biologic, social and nutritional aspects and as a raw material. Secondly, we carry out an archaeobotanic study of four archaeological sites, excavated in Tierra del Fuego (Argentina). The sites are associated to the selknam and yamana societies and for the first time in the area, a considerable quantity of seeds and other macroremains could be recovered, the majority of them belonging to edible fruits (Empetrum rubrum), but also with other uses (like Galium sp. or different examples of sedge family). The present archaeobotanic survey establishes the opportunity to contrast ethnographic and archaeological information for recognizing the paper of vegetal resources in subsistence-strategies in fuegian societies. Furthermore, the archaeobotanic information gives us the opportunity to compare different archaeological records, derived from distinct environmental and social conditions. On the other hand, employing our analysis proposal, we can conclude that it helps us to visualize and recapitulate, above all, the different ways of consumption of a species; improving our attention while appreciating the working processes at the archaeological level. The combination of ethnobotanic and experimental information will help us to have a better comprehension about the management of these resources, learning questions like the work investment necessary for their exploitation, the employed tools, etc. Finally, we hope that the development of this line of investigation will permit in the future a combination of the information generated in that way with the rest of archaeological data, in order to facilitate the characterization of the studied societies with a major precision and to appreciate how their organization really could have been

El papel de los recursos vegetales no leñosos en las economías cazadoras-recolectoras propuesta para el estudio de su gestión: el caso de Tierra del Fuego (Argentina)

El desarrollo técnico y metodológico de la arqueobotánica permite, desde hace más de cuatro décadas, recuperar los macrorrestos vegetales de la matriz arqueológica. Sin embargo, la determinación de la génesis antrópica de los conjuntos arqueobotánicos y la interpretación de la información derivada del estudio de los mismos, siguen siendo dos cuestiones abiertas en el estudio de la relación entre las comunidades humanas y el medio vegetal. Quizás esta problemática sea más acusada en los casos en que nos enfrentamos al estudio de sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras y a la gestión de recursos silvestres. En este trabajo abordamos en primer lugar ambas cuestiones, desde un punto de vista teórico y proponiendo un modelo de análisis para comprender la gestión de los recursos vegetales por parte de sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras que incide en el estudio de los procesos de trabajo implicados en su explotación. Asimismo, se exploran las características de los recursos vegetales a nivel biológico, social y nutricional, como fuente de alimento y materias primas. En segundo lugar, se lleva a cabo el estudio arqueobotánico de cuatro yacimientos excavados en Tierra del Fuego (Argentina). Los sitios están asociados a las sociedades selknam y yámana, y en ellos se han recuperado por primera vez en esta zona una cuantiosa cantidad de semillas y macrorrestos vegetales, la mayoría de ellos pertenecientes a frutos comestibles (Empetrum rubrum), pero también con otros usos (como Galium sp. o distintos ejemplares de la familia de las Cyperaceae). Este estudio arqueobotánico inaugura la oportunidad de contrastar la información etnográfica con la arqueológica, a la hora de conocer el papel de los recursos vegetales en las estrategias de subsistencia de las sociedades fueguinas. Además la información arqueobotánica nos brinda la posibilidad de comparar registros derivados de condiciones ambientales y sociales diferentes. Por otro lado, de la implementación de nuestra propuesta de análisis podemos concluir que nos ayuda a visualizar y a recapacitar sobre todas las posibles modalidades de consumo de un taxón; que nos hace estar más alerta a la hora de reconocer los procesos de trabajo a nivel arqueológico, y que su combinación con la información etnobotánica y experimental nos ayudará a entender mejor cómo fue la gestión de un recurso, pudiendo conocer cuestiones como la cantidad de fuerza de trabajo necesaria para su explotación, las herramientas empleadas en la misma, etc. Por último, esperamos que el desarrollo de esta línea permita en el futuro que la combinación de la información así generada con el resto de datos arqueológicos, sirva para caracterizar las sociedades estudiadas con la mayor precisión posible, de cara a conocer cómo fue su organización.Nowadays, technical and methodological progress in archaeobotany permits, for more than four decades, the recuperation of vegetal macrorremains from the archaeological matrix. Currently, the determination of the human origin of the archaeobotanic record and the interpretation of the information result of its study, remain two open questions in the exploration of the relation between human societies and vegetal environment. Maybe this problem turns out to be accentuated when we study hunter-gatherer societies or the management of wild resources. In the present work we explore both questions from a theoretic viewpoint and suggest a model of analysis, to understand the management of plant resources by hunter-gatherer societies, that points on the study of the labor processes related to their exploitation. Furthermore, the characteristics of plant resources are explored on their biologic, social and nutritional aspects and as a raw material. Secondly, we carry out an archaeobotanic study of four archaeological sites, excavated in Tierra del Fuego (Argentina). The sites are associated to the selknam and yamana societies and for the first time in the area, a considerable quantity of seeds and other macroremains could be recovered, the majority of them belonging to edible fruits (Empetrum rubrum), but also with other uses (like Galium sp. or different examples of sedge family). The present archaeobotanic survey establishes the opportunity to contrast ethnographic and archaeological information for recognizing the paper of vegetal resources in subsistence-strategies in fuegian societies. Furthermore, the archaeobotanic information gives us the opportunity to compare different archaeological records, derived from distinct environmental and social conditions. On the other hand, employing our analysis proposal, we can conclude that it helps us to visualize and recapitulate, above all, the different ways of consumption of a species; improving our attention while appreciating the working processes at the archaeological level. The combination of ethnobotanic and experimental information will help us to have a better comprehension about the management of these resources, learning questions like the work investment necessary for their exploitation, the employed tools, etc. Finally, we hope that the development of this line of investigation will permit in the future a combination of the information generated in that way with the rest of archaeological data, in order to facilitate the characterization of the studied societies with a major precision and to appreciate how their organization really could have been

Site formation processes, human activities and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions from archaeobotanical records in cave and rock-shelter sites in NE Iberia

The main aim of this paper is to evaluate the potential of cave and rock-shelter sites for palaeoecological and archaeobotanical research. Climate conditions in the Mediterranean region and the depositional and post-depositional dynamics involved in the formation processes of open-air sites cause, in many cases, poor conservation of archaeobotanical remains, especially in the case of pollen, affected by oxidation and other taphonomic agents. However, more stable temperature and humidity, as found in cave and rock-shelter sites, provide optimum conditions for the preservation of vegetal remains. This study presents integrated archaeobotanical data from several NE Iberian sites, with occupations from the Middle Palaeolithic to the Bronze Age. On the one hand, the diachronic study of the pollen record in archaeological stratigraphies reconstructs vegetation evolution and abrupt climate changes during the Pleistocene and the Holocene. On the other hand, archaeopalynology reveals the need to consider different taphonomic agents in the interpretation of pollen records in archaeological cave and rock-shelter sites, especially the anthropogenic input of plants to the archaeological contexts. The study of anthracological remains offers a picture of the surrounding wooded landscape, and provides data to characterise vegetal resource management and to verify which plants were brought to the cave. Finally. the carpological record shows the presence of edible wild fruits from bushes and trees in the Pleistocene and beginnings of the Holocene, and cultivated and synanthropic plants from the Middle Holocene onwards

The Hoard of the Rings. "Odd" annular bread-like objects as a case study for cereal-product diversity at the Late Bronze Age hillfort site of Stillfried (Lower Austria)

Cereals, in addition to being a major ingredient in daily meals, also play a role in the preparation of foodstuffs for ritual purposes. This paper deals with finds that may correspond to such ritual preparations retrieved from the hillfort site of Stillfried an der March. The site, spreading across an area of ca. 23 ha, held a very important position among settlements of Late Urnfield period (particularly during the 10th- 9th c. BCE), acting as a central place where large scale storage of grain as well as textile and metal production took place under the control of local elites. Three incomplete ring-shaped charred organic objects, found together with 14 rings and ring fragments made of clay were discovered in a secondary filled silo pit, excavated among a total of about 100 pits of this kind at the site. The overall good state of preservation of the organic ring fragments suggests that they were deposited intact on the bottom of the pit and covered well so that no re-deposition or damage occurred. This could be indicate their intentional placement in this position. Light and scanning electron microscopy revealed that the charred organic rings are cereal products containing hulled barley and a wheat species. Indications that the objects were shaped from a wet cereal mixture and had been subsequently dried without baking are discussed, as well as the possible significance of the find assemblage. The annular objects are put in context with the contemporary cereal spectrum as well as other cereal preparations from Stillfried, outlining their different chaînes opératoires for handling cereal food.status: publishe

Mashes to Mashes, Crust to Crust. Presenting a novel microstructural marker for malting in the archaeological record

The detection of direct archaeological remains of alcoholic beverages and their production is still a challenge to archaeological science, as most of the markers known up to now are either not durable or diagnostic enough to be used as secure proof. The current study addresses this question by experimental work reproducing the malting processes and subsequent charring of the resulting products under laboratory conditions in order to simulate their preservation (by charring) in archaeological contexts and to explore the preservation of microstructural alterations of the cereal grains. The experimentally germinated and charred grains showed clearly degraded (thinned) aleurone cell walls. The histological alterations of the cereal grains were observed and quantified using reflected light and scanning electron microscopy and supported using morphometric and statistical analyses. In order to verify the experimental observations of histological alterations, amorphous charred objects (ACO) containing cereal remains originating from five archaeological sites dating to the 4th millennium BCE were considered: two sites were archaeologically recognisable brewing installations from Predynastic Egypt, while the three broadly contemporary central European lakeshore settlements lack specific contexts for their cereal-based food remains. The aleurone cell wall thinning known from food technological research and observed in our own experimental material was indeed also recorded in the archaeological finds. The Egyptian materials derive from beer production with certainty, supported by ample contextual and artefactual data. The Neolithic lakeshore settlement finds currently represent the oldest traces of malting in central Europe, while a bowl-shaped bread-like object from Hornstaad-Hörnle possibly even points towards early beer production in central Europe. One major further implication of our study is that the cell wall breakdown in the grain's aleurone layer can be used as a general marker for malting processes with relevance to a wide range of charred archaeological finds of cereal products.urldate: 08.05.2020status: publishe