Crop cultivation in the Talayotic settlement of Son Fornés (Mallorca, Spain) : agricultural practices on the western Mediterranean islands in the first millennium BCE

The Balearic Islands were colonised around the transition from the Chalcolithic to the Bronze Age, not earlier than 2300 cal bce and certainly much later than any central or eastern Mediterranean islands. The number of archaeobotanical records is low and consists mainly of cereals and a few pulses. We present here new results of our long-term study of Son Fornés, an archaeological site on Mallorca which was occupied since the beginning of the Iron Age Talayotic period (~ 850 cal bce) and until Roman times (123 bce onwards), in the Balearic Islands. In the Talayotic period of Son Fornés Hordeum vulgare var. vulgare (hulled barley) and Triticum aestivum/durum/turgidum (free-threshing wheat) were the main cereals grown and Vicia faba (broad bean) was the main pulse, while Avena sp. (oats) is considered to have been a weed but was nonetheless consumed and was probably in an early phase of being domesticated. For the subsequent post-Talayotic (ca. 550 − 250 bce), Classic I and Classic II, the Republican Roman occupation period (from 123 bce onwards) the databases are weak, displaying hulled barley as the main crop and broad bean as the main pulse. The archaeobotanical records of Ficus carica (fig), Olea europaea (olive) and Vitis vinifera (grapevine) represent wild or cultivated and domesticated forms. Prunus dulcis (almond) and Pinus pinea (stone pine) were found on Eivissa (Ibiza), pointing to a Phoenician introduction to the islands, while Phoenix dactylifera (date palm) and Castanea sativa (chestnut), found on Menorca, might have been brought in by the Romans. The number of crops being used on the Balearic Islands was limited when compared to sites of similar periods on the European mainland or the central and eastern Mediterranean islands. According to carbon isotope results of Δ13C, hulled barley grew under damper conditions than free-threshing wheat. The high δ15N values indicated that both crops were well-manured with animal dung during the entire occupation period

Die Zeit der großen Gräben: Modelle zur Chronologie des Michelsberger Fundplatzes von Heilbronn-Klingenberg „Schlossberg“, Stadtkreis Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg

This paper presents an attempt to establish more precise dating of the Michelsberg enclosure of Klingenberg-Schlossberg in the Neckar valley. The approach used is advocated as the basis on which to explore the timing and duration of other Michelsberg enclosures of the later fifth–earlier fourth millennium cal BC. Excavated extensively in 1986–1987, the Klingenberg enclosure has two ditches across a loess promontory, traces of a palisade inside the inner ditch, remains of burnt superstructure in both ditches, numerous pits both inside and outside, and numerous dog remains. There are some signs of pre-enclosure occupation in the MK II and III/IV phases, but the bulk of activity belongs to the MK V/Munzingen phase. A formal chronological approach combines the detailed archaeological information from the excavation with radiocarbon dates on carefully selected samples, here mainly charred cereals or articulated or articulating animal bones, in a Bayesian statistical framework.  No samples were found to date MK II activity. Samples for two MK III/IV pits suggest a date in the 40th–39thcenturies cal BC. MK V/Mz activity began at the very end of the 39thand the start of the 38thcentury cal BC. Unlike in the previously published interpretation of the sequence, this activity probably began with the construction of the enclosure, both ditches being dug either together or in very quick succession. This was followed by pits inside the enclosure, from the earlier 38thcentury cal BC. Probably after a few decades, pits began to be dug outside the enclosure, in the middle part of the 38thcentury cal BC. Both ditches probably went out of use in the mid-37thcentury cal BC, probably simultaneously, after the burning of the rampart between them, and the ending of the external pits could be of the same date; the internal pits might have continued a little longer. A duration of 120–150 years for MK V/Mz activity is estimated. Alternative models are considered.  The local and wider implications of these formal date estimates are discussed, topics covered including the circumstances in which the enclosure may have been constructed and those in which it ended, the chronology of MK pottery, and the wider development of MK and other enclosures

Leave no stone unturned:Exploring the metaproteome of beerstone for the identification of archaeological beer production

In archaeological contexts, identifying processes of beer production and consumption has contributed to our understanding of agriculture, labor mobilization, economic surplus, feasting, gender dynamics, social structure, tribute, community, identity and politics. Nevertheless, in the absence of pictorial representations and characteristic objects, beer brewing is difficult to identify in the archaeological record, and molecular methods are often limited by constraints of preservation and specificity. A potential target for studies of ancient beer production are residues formed during brewing activity, including beerstone, a calcium oxalate residue. Here, we apply shotgun proteomics analyses to a sample of modern beerstone to explore this residue's capacity as a marker for beer in archaeological contexts. The beerstone proteome was compared to the protein profiles of ungerminated and germinated barley to identify key proteins indicative of malted grains which may be encased by the residue. Proteins matching to barley grain (Hordeum vulgare) and Baker's/Brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) were successfully identified in the beerstone. In particular, we identified hordeins, lipid transfer proteins, trypsin/α-amylase inhibitors, and protein Z, which are barley proteins abundant in proteomic characterisations of beer. In comparison to ungerminated and germinated barley grains, we find that beerstone preserves only a subset of the barley proteome, with the residue being more reflective of the final brewing product than of earlier brewing steps such as malting. Overall, we demonstrate that beerstone has potential to entrap and preserve proteins reflective of the beer-making process and identify proteins that we might anticipate in future archaeological analyses

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– Ho¨ rnle 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

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– 9 th 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 frag- ments 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 preservati on 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 microscop y 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 preparation s from Stillfried, outlining their different chaıˆnes opératoires for handling cereal food

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

Examination of Late Palaeolithic archaeological sites in northern Europe for the preservation of cryptotephra layers

We report the first major study of cryptotephra (non-visible volcanic ash layers) on Late Palaeolithic archaeological sites in northern Europe. Examination of 34 sites dating from the Last Termination reveals seven with identifiable cryptotephra layers. Preservation is observed in minerogenic and organic deposits, although tephra is more common in organic sediments. Cryptotephra layers normally occur stratigraphically above or below the archaeology. Nearby off-site palaeoclimate archives (peat bogs and lakes <0.3 km distant) were better locations for detecting tephra. However in most cases the archaeology can only be correlated indirectly with such cryptotephras. Patterns affecting the presence/absence of cryptotephra include geographic position of sites relative to the emitting volcanic centre; the influence of past atmospherics on the quantity, direction and patterns of cryptotephra transport; the nature and timing of local site sedimentation; sampling considerations and subsequent taphonomic processes. Overall, while tephrostratigraphy has the potential to improve significantly the chronology of such sites many limiting factors currently impacts the successful application

Großrestbestimmungen an Pollenprofilen aus Ambrona (Provinz Soria)

Die Großrestuntersuchungen an Pollenprofilen erbrachten eine lange Artenliste und spiegeln die Vegetationsverhältnisse in der näheren Umgebung der Feuchtsedimente wider. Die nachgewiesenen Taxa geben Auskunft über die Gewässerphase in den Lagunas im Tal von Ambrona und Miño de Medinaceli. Zusammen mit den Ergebnissen der Pollenanalysen und der pflanzlichen Großrestbestimmungen aus neolithischen Siedlungsgrabungen und prähistorischen Grabhügeln kann die Vegetationsentwicklung und der Einfluss der Besiedlung beschrieben werden.The macro-remain analyses on pollenprofiles furnish a long list of species reflecting the vegetation close to the wet sediments. The determined taxa inform about the aquatic phases in the lagunas of the Ambrona and Miño de Medinaceli valleys. In combination with the results of pollen analyses and the study of macro-remains from Neolithicsettlements and Prehistorical tumuli, the development of the vegetation and the influence of human settlement can be described.Estos análisis dieron como resultado una larga lista de especies y reflejan las condiciones de la vegetación en las zonas de sedimentos húmedos. Las taxáceas identificadas informan sobre la fase en la que las lagunas del valle de Ambrona y Miño de Medinaceli contenían agua permanentemente. Los resultados de los análisis polínicos junto con la clasificación de los macro-restos vegetales procedentes de las excavaciones en poblados neolíticos y en túmulos prehistóricos permiten describir la evolución de la vegetación y el impacto del poblamiento

Botanische Untersuchungen in der bronzezeitlichen Höhensiedlung Fuente Alamo

Deutsche Zusammenfassung folgt

Botanische Untersuchungen in der bronzezeitlichen Höhensiedlung Fuente Alamo

Deutsche Zusammenfassung folgt