Circum-Mediterranean cultural heritage and medicial plant uses in traditional animal healthcare: a field survey in eight selected areas within the RUBIA project

During the years 2003¿2005, a comparative ethnobotanical field survey was conducted on remedies used in traditional animal healthcare in eight Mediterranean areas. The study sites were selected within the EU-funded RUBIA project, and were as follows: the upper Kelmend Province of Albania; the Capannori area in Eastern Tuscany and the Bagnocavallo area of Romagna, Italy; Cercle de Ouezanne, Morocco; Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche Natural Park in the province of Huelva, Spain; the St. Catherine area of the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt; Eastern and Western Crete, Greece; the Paphos and Larnaca areas of Cyprus; and the Mitidja area of Algeria. One hundred and thirty-six veterinary preparations and 110 plant taxa were recorded in the survey, with Asteraceae and Lamiaceae being the most quoted botanical families. For certain plant species the survey uncovered veterinary phytotherapeutical indications that were very uncommon, and to our knowledge never recorded before. These include Anabasis articulata (Chenopodiaceae), Cardopatium corymbosum (Asteraceae), Lilium martagon (Liliaceae), Dorycnium rectum (Fabaceae), Oenanthe pimpinelloides (Apiaceae), Origanum floribundum (Lamiaceae), Tuberaria lignosa (Cistaceae), and Dittrichia graveolens (Asteraceae). These phytotherapeutical indications are briefly discussed in this report, taking into account modern phytopharmacology and phytochemistry. The percentage of overall botanical veterinary taxa recorded in all the study areas was extremely low (8%), however when all taxa belonging to the same botanical genus are considered, this portion increases to 17%. Nevertheless, very few plant uses were found to be part of a presumed "Mediterranean" cultural heritage in veterinary practices, which raises critical questions about the concept of Mediterraneanism in ethnobotany and suggests that further discussion is required. Nearly the half of the recorded veterinary plant uses for mammals uncovered in this survey have also been recorded in the same areas in human folk medicine, suggesting a strong link between human and veterinary medical practices, and perhaps also suggesting the adaptive origins of a few medical practices. Since most of the recorded data concern remedies for treating cattle, sheep, goats, and camels, it would be interesting to test a few of the recorded phytotherapeuticals in the future, to see if they are indeed able to improve animal healthcare in breeding environments, or to raise the quality of dairy and meat products in the absence of classical, industrial, veterinary pharmaceuticals

A Long-Term Assessment of the Use of Phoenix theophrasti Greuter (Cretan Date Palm): the Ethnobotany and Archaeobotany of a Neglected Palm

Most research on the plant genus Phoenix has focused on Phoenix dactylifera (date palm) due to its worldwide economic importance. Comparatively less attention has been devoted to other species within this genus that are also socio-economically important at a local scale, such as Phoenix theophrasti (Cretan date palm). The aim of this paper is to bring focus to this “forgotten” palm through an ethnobotanical survey of its uses by present-day traditional Cretan populations, a review of the archaeological and archaeobotanical evidence of its prehistoric use, and the development of a phytolith key to differentiate among phytoliths produced by P. theophrasti and other palms present in the Mediterranean region. Ethnobotanical data shows that traditional Cretan populations use several parts of P. theophrasti in a variety of ways, including food, weaving, and making spoons. Moreover, and despite a virtual absence of P. theophrasti in the archaeobotanical record, iconographic and textual (Linear B) evidence suggests that this plant may have been used in Crete in Minoan times (c. 3650–1100 BC). The statistical analysis of the morphometric data from phytoliths produced in modern P. theophrasti palms shows significant differences among fruit and leaf phytoliths. The results further show that P. theophrasti phytoliths can be distinguished from those produced by other palms present in the Mediterranean region when both metric and non-metric parameters are considered. Phytolith analyses have, therefore, great potential for identifying past socio-economic uses of P. theophrasti.This research was funded by the European Commission (H2020 MSCA 2015, Grant No. 704867), the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Juan de la Cierva Incorporación 2018 Program), the former Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation (CONSOLIDER INGENIO 2010, Grant No. CSD2010-00034), and the British Academy (BA/Leverhulme SGR 2015-16, Grant No. SG152915). The ethnographic work conducted by Melpomeni Skoula and Anaya Sarpaki was funded by the RUBIA project (Circum-Mediterranean Ethnobotanical and Ethnographic Heritage in Traditional Technologies, Tools, and Uses of Wild and Neglected Cultivated Plants for Food, Medicine, Textiles, Dying, and Handicrafts), FP5-INCO 2 Program, Grant No. ICA3-CT-2002-10023.Peer reviewe