The aim of the Nordic Network for the Archaeology and Archaeobotany of Gardening
(NTAA), as it was phrased those first days in Alnarp in the beginning of March 2010, is
to: ”bring researchers together from different disciplines to discuss the history, archaeology,
archaeobotany and cultivation of gardens and plants”. We had no idea, then, how
widely appreciated this initiative would become. The fifth seminar in five years was held
on Visingsö June 1-3, 2014 and the sixth seminar will take place in Kristiansand, Norway,
June 12-14, 2015.
We are very pleased to be able to publish this report, Sources to the History of Gardening:
Four Interdisciplinary Seminars 2010–2013, Arranged By the Nordic Network for
the Archaeology and Archaeobotany of Gardening (NTAA), based on the first four themes
and seminars, in total 26 articles. Most of them origins from one of the seminar contributions
2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 respectively. However, the editorial group has taken the
opportunity, with the aim of the network in mind, to add supplementing contributions on
some subjects.
The articles are arranged in four themes according to the themes of the seminars. The first
theme Archaeological Sources to the History of Gardens and the Cultural Landscape is
linked to the first seminar in Alnarp, Sweden, 2010 which had a focus on method, the
important connections between archaeology and archaeobotany and the interesting progress
within garden archaeology during the last decade.
The second theme Cabbage Patches and Kitchen Gardens deals with the second seminar
in Norrköping, Sweden, 2011. Its focus was on historical, cultural geographical, archaeological
and archaeobotanical research concerning utility gardens or kitchen gardens as
well as the concept ‘kålgård’ (cabbage patch or kale yard), its shape and content over
time.
The third theme Cultural and Garden plants: Under Ground, Above Ground, In Herbariums
and Archives connects to the third seminar in Uppsala, Sweden, 2012. It focused on
sources, source criticism and interdisciplinary research to gain knowledge on the history
of garden cultivation and cultural plants. The articles discuss, among other things, herbariums,
written sources, DNA and molecular markers, pollen analysis and georadar.
The fourth theme for NTAA’s annual seminar was Cultural Relict Plants and was held on
Bornholm, Denmark, 2013. The focus on the seminar was on research and conservation
of cultural relict plants, that is cultural plants which have survived in the same place for a
long time after the actual cultivation has ceased.
We dedicate this report to Kjell Lundquist (1955-2011) who were one of the initiators to
this network and we hope it will inspire continuous research and new methodological
discussions