Daar zit nog een luchtje aan: beerputten en hun vluchtige stoffen

Assessing the range of economic plant taxa that were cultivated, procured and consumed by past societies is a difficult procedure within Archaeobotany. Food preparation, consumption and digestion have an impact on the preservation of seeds/fruits, roots, stems and leaves, and moreover it has an impact on their presence or absence within archaeobotanical samples. This results in a bias in favour of the preserved plant taxa, and can overestimate their position within past diets. Therefore, exploring an alternative methodology, which can indicate a fuller range of edible plant taxa and plant-based products in archaeobotanical samples is valuable. The analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can provide a more representative range of such plants that cannot be identified via traditional microscopic methods (e.g. pulverised herbs and spices, resins and other aromatics). This pilot study has two main aims: to determine if VOCs related to consumed plant remains are still present in archaeological cesspit samples and to assess the potential application of this method within archaeobotanical research. By comparing the VOCs found in archaeological cesspits with the (species-specific) VOCs mentioned in contemporary food research publications, the share of vulnerable plant species such as herbs and spices in past societies diet will be better represented in archaeobotanical research

Zat er nog wat in? Archeobotanisch onderzoek aan een Westeinder raatakker

Despite being a well-known type of site, later pre¬historic field systems (Celtic fields or raatakkers) have received only moderate archaeobotanical attention. This means we are poorly informed on the past agricultural use-histories of these types of sites. To this end, the Celtic field com¬plex of Westeinde - Noormansveld (Drenthe, The Netherlands) was used as a case-study to inves¬tigate the potential of macrobotanical research. Whilst several foodcrops could be identified (e.g. emmerwheat, barley, millet and flax/linseed) their numerical presence with regard to sam¬ple volume were extremely low (1.5-5 charred remains per 100 liter Celtic field sediment). Moreover, contextual association to charcoal and sherds, suggests that this selection of species represents settlement activities (i.e. manuring and refuse disposal) rather than local production. This tallies with the fact that species for which no char¬ring is required during processing (e.g. flax and millet) are also found in a charred state. These results merit more detailed attention to sample types, contexts, volumes and interpretations in the study of later prehistoric field systems