Plant foods, stone tools and food preparation in prehistoric Europe: An integrative approach in the context of ERC funded project PLANTCULT

The transformation of food ingredients into meals corresponds to complex choices resulting from the interplay of environmental and cultural factors: available ingredients, technologies of transformation, cultural perceptions of food, as well as taste and food taboos. Project PLANTCULT (ERC Consolidator Grant, GA 682529) aims to investigate prehistoric culinary cultures from the Aegean to Central Europe by focusing on plant foods and associated food preparation technologies spanning the Neolithic through to the Iron Age. Our paper offers an overview of the lines of investigation pursued within the project to address plant food preparation and related stone tool technologies. The wide range of plant foods from the area under investigation (ground cereals, breads, beer, pressed grapes, split pulses, etc.) suggests great variability of culinary preparations. Yet, little is known of the transformation technologies involved (e.g., pounding, grinding, and boiling). Changes in size and shape of grinding stones over time have been associated with efficiency of grinding, specific culinary practices and socioeconomic organisation. Informed by ethnography and experimental data, as well as ancient texts, PLANTCULT integrates archaeobotanical food remains and associated equipment to address these issues. We utilize a multifaceted approach including the study of both published archaeological data and original assemblages from key sites. We aim to develop methods for understanding the interaction of tool type, use-wear formation and associated plant micro- and macro- remains in the archaeological record. Our experimental program aims to generate (a) reference material for the identification of plant processing in the archaeological record and (b) ingredients for the preparation of experimental plant foods, which hold a key role to unlocking the recipes of prehistory. Plant processing technologies are thus investigated across space and through time, in an attempt to explore the dynamic role of culinary transformation of plant ingredients into shaping social and cultural identities in prehistoric Europe

An ethnoarchaeological study of livestock dung fuels from cooking installations in northern Tunisia

Livestock dung is a valuable material in many rural communities worldwide. In our research area, the site of Althiburos and its surroundings, now el Médéïna, in northwestern Tunisia, dung is the main source of fuel for domestic purposes, primarily the processing and cooking of foods. Ovicaprine dung is daily used in traditional mud tannur type ovens, namely tabouna. The archaeological record shows that mud constructed cooking installations were common during the first millennium BC. Previous studies of phytoliths and dung spherulites at Numidian Althiburos suggested the use of vegetal and fecal matter for fuel purposes. We present here the results of the continuation study based on the comparison between archaeological results (a selection of cooking installations, six hearths and two mud ovens) and those obtained from the ethnographic study of dung fuel materials from the site area. The present study builds up on ethnographic observations and informal interviews (dung collection, management, storage, waste disposal and cooking and baking activities), temperature measurements within the burning fuel, as well as modern material sampling (fresh dung, burned pellets, dung ashes and fuel trash paths) which was followed by integrated studies of phytoliths and calcitic microfossil analyses (dung spherulites and wood ash pseudomorphs) for comparative purposes. The results obtained provided direct evidence regarding the type of fuel sources: dung, wood and a mixing of dung and vegetal matter (wood and agricultural by-products). Dung was used as source of fuel material across time (from the Early Numidian occupation phase, 10th–9th century BC, to the last centuries BC) and space (in different excavation areas and type of installations). Such integrated studies demonstrate the value of combining different microarchaeological techniques and the use of ethnoarchaeological material from site areas

A palaeoenvironmental reconstruction (based on palaeobotanical data and diatoms) of the Middle Pleistocene elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) butchery site at Marathousa, Megalopolis, Greece

Bioarchaeolog

Identifying ancient water availability through phytolith analysis: An experimental approach.

Water management was critical to the development of complex societies but such systems are often difficult, if not impossible, to recognise in the archaeological record, particularly in prehistoric communities when water management began. This is because early irrigation systems are likely to have been ephemeral and as such would no longer be visible in the archaeological record. We conducted a three year crop growing experiment in Jordan to test the hypothesis that phytoliths (opaline silica bodies formed in plants) can be used to detect the level of past water availability and hence be used as a source of information for inferring past water management. Over a three year period we grew native land races of six-row barley (Hordeum vulgare) and durum wheat (Triticum durum) at three crop growing stations in Jordan with the crops being subjected to different irrigation regimes. Seeds were sown in the autumn and the crops harvested in the spring. The plants were then exported to the University of Reading for phytolith processing. Our results show that while there were unknown factors that influenced phytolith production between years, at the higher levels, the ratio of ‘fixed’ form phytoliths (those formed as a result of genetically determined Silicon uptake) to ‘sensitive’ form phytoliths (those whose Silicon uptake is environmentally controlled) can be used to assess past water availability. Our study is the first large scale experimental project to test this method and take into account multiple variables that can affect phytolith production such as soil composition and chemistry, location, climate and evapotranspiration rates. Results from the cereals grown at two of the crop growing stations, Deir ‘Alla and Ramtha, which received between 100 millimetres and 250 millimetres rainfall per annum, demonstrate that if the ratio of fixed to sensitive phytolith forms is >1, the level of past water availability can be predicted with 80% confidence. Results from the crops grown at the other growing station, Kherbet as-Samra, which received less than 100 millimetres of rainfall per year show that if the ratio of fixed to sensitive forms is >0.5, the level of past water availability can be predicted with 99% confidence. This demonstrates that phytolith analysis can be used as a method to identify past water availability

Landscape transformations at the dawn of agriculture in southern Syria (10.7–9.9 ka cal. BP): plant-specific responses to the impact of human activities and climate change

In southwest Asia, the accelerated impact of human activities on the landscape has often been linked to the development of fully agricultural societies during the middle and late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) period (around 10.2–7.9 ka cal. BP). This work contributes to the debate on the environmental impact of the so-called Neolitisation process by identifying the climatic and anthropogenic factors that contributed to change local and regional vegetation at the time when domesticated plants appeared and developed in southern Syria (around 10.7–9.9 ka cal. BP). In this work a multidisciplinary analysis of plant microremains (pollen and phytoliths) and macroremains (wood charcoal) is carried out along with stable carbon isotope discrimination of wood charcoals in an early PPNB site (Tell Qarassa North, west of the Jabal al-Arab area). Prior to 10.5 ka cal. BP, the results indicate a dynamic equilibrium in the local and regional vegetation, which comprised woodland-steppe, Mediterranean evergreen oak-woodlands, wetland vegetation and coniferous forests. Around 10.5–9.9 ka cal. BP, the elements that regulated the vegetation system changed, resulting in reduced proportions of arboreal cover and the spread of cold-tolerant and wetlands species. Our data show that reinforcing interaction between the elements of the anthropogenic (e.g. herding, fire-related activities) and climatic systems (e.g. temperature, rainfall) contributed to the transformation of early Holocene vegetation during the emergence of fully agricultural societies in southern Syria

HELP! HJELPE! HJÆLPE! – Language barriers and their importance in nursing

Människor från olika delar av världen flyttar till Sverige, vilket gör att landets hälso- och sjukvård möts av en kulturell mångfald. Situationer, där sjuksköterskan och patienten inte talar samma språk, ställer krav på sjuksköterskans kulturella kompetens, förmåga att åtgärda kommunikationssvårigheter och att uppnå en säker vård. Syftet var att undersöka patienters respektive sjuksköterskors upplevelser och erfarenheter av språkbarriärer i vårdmöten, samt hur språkbarriärer kan åtgärdas. Denna litteraturstudie inkluderade 14 vetenskapliga artiklar av kvalitativ design. Resultatet redovisas i tre huvudkategorier: Svårigheter för patienter, svårigheter för sjuksköterskor och kommunikationsbefrämjande insatser. De tre kategorierna består av totalt elva subkategorier, där huvudfynden delas in i specifika områden. Resultatet visar att informationsutbytet mellan patienter och sjuksköterskor är begränsat och väcker starka känslor hos patienter i olika vårdsituationer. Språkbarriärer påverkar patienters delaktighet och skapar hinder i vården. Auktoriserad tolk underlättar sjuksköterskors omvårdnad och kommunikation med patienter. Brister på individ- och organisationsnivå påverkar patientsäkerheten. Kroppsspråk, kommunikativa hjälpmedel och anpassad information är viktigt för att främja kommunikationen vid språkbarriärer. Utbildning i transkulturell omvårdnad är nödvändigt. Slutsatserna är att språkbarriärer begränsar patientens vård, försämrar vårdupplevelsen, minskar patientsäkerheten och försvårar sjuksköterskans arbete. Mer kunskaper i transkulturell omvårdnad, bättre organisatoriskt stöd och bättre användning av tillgängliga resurser behövs för att överbrygga språkbarriärer

The contribution of phytoliths in recognising the use of space in prehistory: comparative study of an ethnographic environment and a neolithic site

Phytolith analyses were conducted in an ethnographic environment (Sarakini) and a neolithic site (Makri) of Thrace in order to reconstruct aspects of past human activities as a function of both space and time. The analyses were based on a reference collection of modern plant phytoliths from Greece. The results showed that regarding plants, grasses are the prolific producers and with taxonomic significance (species). The phytolith assemblages from the sediments of Sarakini verified the importance of phytoliths in recognising activity areas in an agropastoral community. The data from Sarakini helped us to get insights regarding the use of space in neolithic Makri it is an agropastoral community inhabited year round that produces and consumes its staples (wheat and barley).Η παρούσα διατριβή μελετά τους φυτόλιθους σε ένα εθνογραφικό περιβάλλον (Σαρακηνή) και μια νεολιθική θέση (Μάκρη) της Θράκης με σκοπό την αναγνώριση των ανθρώπινων δραστηριοτήτων στο χώρο και στο χρόνο. Πολύτιμος σύμμαχος της συγκεκριμένης μελέτης υπήρξε η συλλογή αναφοράς φωτολίθων από σύγχρονα φυτά της Ελλάδας που οργανώθηκε στα πλαίσια της διατριβής. Τα αποτελέσματα απέδειξαν ότι αναφορικά με τα φυτά. τα αγρωστώδη παράγουν το μεγαλύτερο αριθμό φυτολίθων, η αναγνώριση των οποίων φτάνει στο επίπεδο του είδους. Τα φυτολιθικά σύνολα από τα ιζήματα της Σαρακηνής επιβεβαίωσαν τη σπουδαιότητα των φυτολίθων ως εργαλείου αναγνώρισης χώρων δραστηριότητας σε μια γεωργοκτηνοτροφική κοινότητα. Τα δεδομένα της Σαρακηνής αποτέλεσαν αρχείο άντλησης ιδεών για την αναγνώριση των χώρων δραστηριότητας στη Νεολιθική Μάκρη. Πρόκειται για ένα γεωργοκτηνοτροφικό οικισμό που κατοικείται όλη τη διάρκεια του έτους και παράγει και καταναλώνει σιτηρά (κριθάρι - σιτάρι)