Plants of the Funnel Beaker culture in Poland

Neolithic communities appeared in Polish territories around the mid-6th millennium BC. However, until the beginning of the 4th millennium BC, they inhabited only small enclaves. This situation changed within the first half of the 4th millennium BC, when the most of the Polish territories became settled by Neolithic groups attributed to the Funnel Beaker culture (TRB). There is a fairly large amount of data on plants cultivated by TRB people. Based on this, one can conclude that mainly Triticum dicoccon, T. monococcum and Hordeum vulgare were grown. T. dicoccon and T. monococcum could be sown together. It should be noted that large amounts of weeds typical of cereal fields have been recorded. It is much more difficult to determine the economic importance of other cultivars because of their low numbers. Nevertheless, the TRB inventories contain remains of Pisum sativum, Lens culinaris, Linum usitatissimum and Papaver somniferum

An Early Neolithic House in the Foothills:A Case Study of Pottery and Lithic Artefacts from the Biskupice Site 18 (Wieliczka Foothills, Southern Poland)

Highlights•Biskupice site (S Poland) represents the late Želiezovce phase (5300 to 5000 BCE).•Pottery was produced locally, and showed a use of animal fats for cooking.•The face vessel was of local origin, but influenced by Transcarpathian style.•Obsidian artefacts originated from the Carpathian 1a/1b chemical type, S-E Slovakia.•Transcarpathian contacts between LBK and Bükk culture were discussed.AbstractThe paper presents a comprehensive analysis of pottery and lithic materials found in archaeological features associated with an Early Neolithic house from Biskupice (southern Poland) to shed light on exchange networks of the first farmers in Central Europe. The research began with the discovery of a unique fragment of a face vessel made in the Želiezovce style, a motif primarily found in Moravia and north-eastern Austria. Therefore, specialised analyses were undertaken to determine whether the Biskupice fragment was locally produced or originated from areas south of the Sudetes and Carpathians. The study involved an examination of raw clay material and the technology used to create the anthropomorphic vessel, aiming to establish its provenance (local production versus import). Petrographic methods were employed to analyse a diverse group of vessel types for comparison. Additionally, a selected group of pottery fragments, including the face vessel, underwent lipid residue analysis to determine their potential use. The combination of microscopic examinations and lipid residues analysis was utilised to study the link between the physical properties and function of the vessels. Finally, the archaeological context of other artifacts from the same house, including lithic assemblages, was investigated to determine the presence of both local and imported raw materials in Biskupice. The main conclusion of the study indicates local production of pottery, including the face vessel, and lithic implements. Conversely, a Transcarpathian transfer of some technological and decorative ideas, as well as imports of raw material such as obsidian, were confirmed

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

Unexpected discovery of a Funnel Beaker culture feature at the Kraków Spadzista (Kraków - Zwierzyniec 4) site

The paper presents a Neolithic feature discovered in trench G of the widely-known Paleolithic Gravettian site at Kraków Spadzista. Pottery and lithic artefacts as well as archaeobotanical data and radiocarbon dates demonstrate the existence of a stable human occupation with an agricultural economy. Due to the small number of distinctive fragments of pottery, both the Wyciąże-Złotniki group and the Funnel Beaker culture have to be taken into account in the discussion on the cultural attribution of the feature. The obtained absolute dates make a connection with the latter unit more probabl

Archaeobotanical and palaeoenvironmental analyses from the easternmost Early Neolithic sites at Kamyane-Zavallia (Ukraine) and Nicolaevca V (Moldova)

Recent archaeological excavations at two Early Neolithic settlements at Kamyane-Zavallia (Ukraine) and Nicolaevca V (Moldova) have provided new plant assemblages. The sites belong to the Linearbandkeramik culture (LBK) and represent its easternmost settlements. In these regions, charred plant macro-remains are still very rarely sampled for and investigated, so these results may shed light on the plant-based economy of the first farmers of this area. Both sites are located in the area of loess soils, in the border zone between deciduous woodland, woodland steppe and steppe. A dominance of Triticum monococcum (einkorn) was evident at both sites, preserved both as grains and chaff (spikelet bases and glume base). Other cereals, including cf. T. dicoccum (emmer), cf. T. timopheevii and Hordeum vulgare (barley) were less frequent. Among wild herbaceous plants, ruderal and segetal communities were represented by species commonly found at LBK sites, including Chenopodium album type, Fallopia convolvulus, Echinochloa crus-galli and Lapsana communis. The majority of these plants are edible and it is also likely that they were used as food. At both sites, remains of awns of Stipa sp. (feather grass) were found, which indicate the existence of grasslands and/or open woodlands in the vicinity. The charcoal assemblages were dominated by a few taxa, such as Fraxinus sp., Quercus sp. and Cornus sp., suggesting that there were some wooded steppe and deciduous forests. Selected plant macro-remains were radiocarbon dated and the results show that they are from ca. 5200 − 5000 cal bc. From the same archaeobotanical samples, snails were analysed and the resulting malacofauna shows a dominance of open-country snails as well as those which might indicate local agricultural practices at both settlements

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

Ex Oriente seges: the arrival and establishment of broomcorn millet in Europe

Cultivation of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) was a widespread practice in later European prehistory. When and how this ‘crop from the East’ was introduced to the continent and spread across it has not been determined. So far, based on the relative chronology of millet finds and a small set of radiocarbon-dated caryopses, it has been suggested that millet did not arrive in Europe during the Neolithic and that this happened in the Mid-Late Bronze Age. It has not been clear why and how millet was integrated into the pre-existing crop spectrum and what effect this had on the crop husbandry routine. The economic and socio-cultural contexts of the adoption of millet have not been closely examined. The 'Millet Dating Programme' recently completed at Kiel University produced 100+ radiocarbon dates on charred grains of broomcorn millet recovered from Neolithic and Bronze Age layers of sites located in different parts of Europe. Collectively, the absolute dates suggest that millet reached most of SE, central and NW Europe in the period 15-13th century BC. Using these high-precision data, we can now build a link between the start of millet cultivation and the coeval changes in subsistence economy potentially resulting from the adoption of the new crop. We present the results of this research project and discuss possible mechanisms by which millet was distributed, as well as the potential agro-ecological causes-andeffects of the establishment of millet cultivation in Europe

New AMS 14C dates track the arrival and spread of broomcorn millet cultivation and agricultural change in prehistoric Europe

Broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) is not one of the founder crops domesticated in Southwest Asia in the early Holocene, but was domesticated in northeast China by 6000 bc. In Europe, millet was reported in Early Neolithic contexts formed by 6000 bc, but recent radiocarbon dating of a dozen 'early' grains cast doubt on these claims. Archaeobotanical evidence reveals that millet was common in Europe from the 2nd millennium bc, when major societal and economic transformations took place in the Bronze Age. We conducted an extensive programme of AMS-dating of charred broomcorn millet grains from 75 prehistoric sites in Europe. Our Bayesian model reveals that millet cultivation began in Europe at the earliest during the sixteenth century bc, and spread rapidly during the fifteenth/fourteenth centuries bc. Broomcorn millet succeeds in exceptionally wide range of growing conditions and completes its lifecycle in less than three summer months. Offering an additional harvest and thus surplus food/fodder, it likely was a transformative innovation in European prehistoric agriculture previously based mainly on (winter) cropping of wheat and barley. We provide a new, high-resolution chronological framework for this key agricultural development that likely contributed to far-reaching changes in lifestyle in late 2nd millennium bc Europe