Triticum timopheevii s.l. (‘new glume wheat’) finds in regions of southern and eastern Europe across space and time

Triticum timopheevii sensu lato (‘new glume wheat’, NGW) was first recognised as a distinct prehistoric cereal crop through work on archaeobotanical finds from Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in northern Greece. This was later followed by its identification in archaeobotanical assemblages from other parts of Europe. This paper provides an overview of the currently known archaeobotanical finds of Timopheev’s wheat in southeastern and eastern Europe and observes their temporal span and spatial distribution. To date, there are 89 prehistoric sites with these finds, located in different parts of the study region and dated from the Neolithic to the very late Iron Age. Their latest recorded presence in the region is in the last centuries BCE. For assemblages from the site as a whole containing at least 30 grain and/or chaff remains of Timopheev’s wheat, we take a brief look at the overall relative proportions of Triticum monococcum (einkorn), T. dicoccum (emmer) and T. timopheevii s.l. (Timopheev’s wheat), the three most common glume wheats in our study region in prehistory. We highlight several sites where the overall proportions of Timopheev’s wheat might be taken to suggest it was a minor component of a mixed crop (maslin), or an unmonitored inclusion in einkorn or emmer fields. At the same sites, however, there are also discrete contexts where this wheat is strongly predominant, pointing to its cultivation as a pure crop. We therefore emphasise the need to evaluate the relative representation of Timopheev’s wheat at the level of individual samples or contexts before making inferences on its cultivation status. We also encourage re-examination of prehistoric and historic cereal assemblages for its remains

Archaeobotanical Evidence from the Acheron Oracle of the Dead: Rethinking Site Interpretation through the Stored Food Products

Introduction This paper indirectly touches upon ancient Greco-Roman myths and beliefs related to perceptions of the plant world and focuses on a modern, nineteenth- and twentieth-century, archaeological myth, in which plant consumption has played a key role. The connecting thread of the two eras essentially starts one spring morning in the early 1810s, when Ali Pasha (1744-1822)—a cunning and ruthless, yet able and multifaceted governor, who actively contested the deteriorating central Ottoma..

Iron Age Cultural Interactions, Plant Subsistence and Land Use in Southeastern Europe Inferred from Archaeobotanical Evidence of Greece and Bulgaria

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Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) domestication and viticulture history in Greece from Neolithic to the Archaic period: insights from geometric morphometric analyses of archaeological grape seeds

International audienc

Local domestication or diffusion? Insights into viticulture in Greece from Neolithic to Archaic times, using geometric morphometric analyses of archaeological grape seeds

International audienceGrapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the emblematic crops of Greece. Despite evidence of early wine making in the Aegean since the Late Neolithic (ca 4500-4000 BC), the hypothesis of a local domestication of the grapevine in this area hasn't be thoroughly investigated. In order to date the first appearance of the domesticated grapevine and to explore the past cultivated diversity in the Aegean, morphometric analyses were performed on a large data set of 2223 archaeological grape pips from 11 sites located in various areas of Greece and dated to the Late Neolithic, Bronze Age and Archaic period (6th millennium BC-7th century BC). All the grape pips from the Late Neolithic are morphologically wild. The shift from wild to domesticated shape occurred during the Middle Bronze Age (1900-1700 BC). From the Late Bronze Age (1500-1100 BC) onwards, domesticated types dominate almost all the assemblages. Possible indication of a local domestication process is provided by pips dated to the Early Bronze Age. Also still in the range of modern wild specimens, their shape is an intermediate between the Neolithic pips and those dated to later periods. A high morphological diversity characterizes the Late Bronze Age and Archaic assemblages. These grape pips are mostly allocated to modern varieties from the Balkans, Caucasus and SouthWest Asia. The geographical origin of the identified varieties may reflect introduction of cultivars from the eastern Mediterranean, but may also testify to an early stage of local domestication and grapevine diversification

Des dieux et des plantes. Monde végétal et religion en Grèce ancienne

L’ouvrage présent rend hommage à l’emblématique ouvrage Prairies et Jardins… d’André Motte (1973) en proposant une moisson toute fraîche de questionnements et de points de vue sur les verts paysages du monde polythéiste des anciens Grecs, ainsi que les espèces et les plantes isolées qui ont poussé sur son sol. Les auteurs du volume, attentifs aux renouvellements à l’œuvre dans l’étude de la religion grecque ancienne, grâce aux recherches de plusieurs décennies, montrent qu’à la pluralité des dieux et des enceintes sacrées correspondent un regard diversifié et une façon dynamique d’envisager l’élément végétal constitutif de l’expérience religieuse. En refusant les approches naturalistes réductrices et les aperçus conventionnels, les études ici rassemblées tiennent compte, notamment, du dialogue perpétuel entre quête théorique ou poétique, réalités rituelles ou politiques, qui régit le polythéisme grec ancien. Elles abordent aussi la dimension locale des récits et des cultes. Sont ainsi mis en perspective des plantes réelles et imaginaires, à travers le vocabulaire concret du végétal, les récits et les croyances indigènes, la topographie des sanctuaires, les calendriers des fêtes, les épiclèses et les attributs divins, les gestes rituels et la pharmacopée. Loin d’épuiser le thème en question, cette promenade interdisciplinaire a l’ambition d’en révéler la complexité en ouvrant des pistes captivantes

Triticum timopheevii s.l. ('new glume wheat') finds in regions of southern and eastern Europe across space and time

Triticum timopheevii sensu lato ('new glume wheat', NGW) was first recognised as a distinct prehistoric cereal crop through work on archaeobotanical finds from Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in northern Greece. This was later followed by its identification in archaeobotanical assemblages from other parts of Europe. This paper provides an overview of the currently known archaeobotanical finds of Timopheev's wheat in southeastern and eastern Europe and observes their temporal span and spatial distribution. To date, there are 89 prehistoric sites with these finds, located in different parts of the study region and dated from the Neolithic to the very late Iron Age. Their latest recorded presence in the region is in the last centuries bce. For assemblages from the site as a whole containing at least 30 grain and/or chaff remains of Timopheev's wheat, we take a brief look at the overall relative proportions of Triticum monococcum (einkorn), T. dicoccum (emmer) and T. timopheevii s.l. (Timopheev's wheat), the three most common glume wheats in our study region in prehistory. We highlight several sites where the overall proportions of Timopheev's wheat might be taken to suggest it was a minor component of a mixed crop (maslin), or an unmonitored inclusion in einkorn or emmer fields. At the same sites, however, there are also discrete contexts where this wheat is strongly predominant, pointing to its cultivation as a pure crop. We therefore emphasise the need to evaluate the relative representation of Timopheev's wheat at the level of individual samples or contexts before making inferences on its cultivation status. We also encourage re-examination of prehistoric and historic cereal assemblages for its remains