Firewood, food and niche construction: the potential role of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in actively structuring Scotland's woodlands

Over the past few decades the potential role of Mesolithic hunter–gatherers in actively constructing their own niches, through the management of wild plants, has frequently been discussed. It is probable that Mesolithic hunter–gatherers systematically exploited specific woodland resources for food and fuel and influenced the ‘natural’ abundance or distribution of particular species within Mesolithic environments. Though there has been considerable discussion of the pollen evidence for potential small-scale human-woodland manipulation in Mesolithic Scotland, the archaeobotanical evidence for anthropogenic firewood and food selection has not been discussed in this context. This paper assesses the evidence for the active role of Mesolithic hunter–gatherer communities in systematically exploiting and managing woodlands for food and fuel in Scotland. While taphonomic factors may have impacted on the frequency of specific species in archaeobotanical assemblages, it is suggested that hunter–gatherers in Mesolithic Scotland were systematically using woodland plants, and in particular hazel and oak, for food and fuel. It is argued that the pollen evidence for woodland management is equivocal, but hints at the role of hunter–gatherers in shaping the structure of their environments, through the maintenance or creation of woodland clearings for settlement or as part of vegetation management strategies. It is proposed that Mesolithic hunter–gatherers may have actively contributed to niche construction and that the systematic use of hazel and oak as a fuel may reflect the deliberate pruning of hazel trees to increase nut-yields and the inadvertent – or perhaps deliberate – coppicing of hazel and oak during greenwood collection

Seeds, fruits and nuts in the Scottish Mesolithic

Over the past few decades, the potential importance of plants within European Mesolithic economies has frequently been discussed, but there has been little systematic consideration of the archaeobotanical evidence for Mesolithic plant consumption in Scotland. This paper assesses the use of plants in the Scottish Mesolithic economy using the archaeobotanical evidence from 48 sites. It is argued that plants were systematically, and, in some cases, intensively exploited in Mesolithic Scotland. Though plant remains were extremely sparse at most sites, it is suggested that uneven archaeological sampling and taphonomic factors, together with the relatively short duration of occupation of many sites, may be responsible for the restricted range and frequency of edible taxa in most assemblages

The bashful and the boastful : prestigious leaders and social change in Mesolithic Societies

The creation and maintenance of influential leaders and authorities is one of the key themes of archaeological and historical enquiry. However the social dynamics of authorities and leaders in the Mesolithic remains a largely unexplored area of study. The role and influence of authorities can be remarkably different in different situations yet they exist in all societies and in almost all social contexts from playgrounds to parliaments. Here we explore the literature on the dynamics of authority creation, maintenance and contestation in egalitarian societies, and discuss the implications for our interpretation and understanding of the formation of authorities and leaders and changing social relationships within the Mesolithic

Cereals, fruits and nuts in the Scottish Neolithic

The importance of wild and domestic plants within British Neolithic economies has been much disputed but the contribution of the Scottish archaeobotanical evidence to this issue has previously been understated. This paper assesses the use of plants in the Scottish Neolithic economy using the archaeobotanical evidence from 75 sites. It is argued that plant exploitation was geographically and socially diverse in Neolithic Scotland; while domestic plants became the mainstay of the economy for some social groups, wild plant exploitation remained an important part of the subsistence strategies of other groups. In this context, geographic, social and temporal differences in the importance of wheat and barley are also discussed

Distinguishing Wild Boar and Domestic Pigs in Prehistory: A Review of Approaches and Recent Results

New methods permit archaeologists to distinguish between wild boar and domestic pigs with greater confidence than has been hitherto possible. Metrical methods are the most commonly used; these are reviewed. Assemblages containing a wider range of measurements (as measured by the coefficient of variation [V]) than is found in one population suggest that two populations of different-sized pigs were present, probably indicating separate wild and domestic populations with little or no interbreeding. These assemblages, sometimes taken to indicate animals ‘intermediate’ between wild and domestic, are clear evidence of full domestication. Other traditional means of diagnosing domestication based on age at death (the killing of many young animals) and biogeography (the export of the animal beyond its natural range, especially to islands) are particularly problematic when applied to pigs. New methods include the frequency of Linear Enamel Hypoplasia, which may increase due to domestication-induced stress, the study of diet through isotopes and dental microwear, and the examination of population histories through ancient and modern DNA and geometric morphometrics. These are all promising but should not be considered in isolation: many problems remain

Early Domestic Animals in Italy, Istria, the Tyrrhenian Islands, and Southern France

International audienc

Volatile compounds in archaeological plant remains and the Maillard reaction during decay of organic matter

decay products trapped within internal networks of structural and storage macromol-ecules. These volatile components can be linked to specific degradative reactions occurring during the long-term burial of organic matter. Abundant alkyl pyrazines are characteristic by-products of the Maillard (or browning) reaction of proteins and car-bohydrates and provide evidence for the reaction occurring in buried organic matter. Qasr Ibrı̂m is the site of a major archaeo-logical settlement located on the banks of the Nile in Egyptian Nubia. Excavations have yielded vast quantities of paleobotani-cal remains, including cereals, legumes, and oil seeds, that display exceptional morpho-logical preservation. These plant remains provide data on the various phases of occu-pation of the settlement (1) and are also proving to be useful model systems fo