Macrobotanical Analysis in Southeastern Hungary: the Veszto
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Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2003 Macrobotanical Analysis in Southeast Hungary: The Vésztõ-Bikeri Site Kimberly Kasper Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES MACROBOTANICAL ANALYSIS IN SOUTHEAST HUNGARY: THE VÉSZTÕ- BIKERI SITE By KIMBERLY KASPER A Thesis submitted to the Department of Anthropology In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Science Degree Award: Fall Semester, 2003 Copyright 2003 Kimberly Kasper All Rights Reserved The members of the Committee approve the thesis of Kimberly Kasper defended on November 7, 2003. William Parkinson Professor Co-Directing Thesis Cheryl Ward Professor Co-Directing Thesis Ksenija Borojevic Committee Member Rochelle Marrinan Committee Member Approved: Dean Falk, Chair, Department of Anthropology Dean, College of Arts and Sciences The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables …...……………………………………………………………….. v List of Figures ..………………………………………………………………….. vi Abstract ..………………………………………………………………………… vii I. ARCHAEOBOTANY IN HUNGARY: PAST AND PRESENT Introduction .….…………..……………………………………………… 1 Archaeological Background of the Transition from the Late Neolithic to the Early Copper Age …..…………………………………….. 2 Goals of Archaeobotanical Research at the Vésztõ-Bikeri Site …………. 4 Outline of Thesis …...……………………………………………………. 5 II. VEGETATIONAL HISTORY OF THE KÖRÖS REGIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT STUDY AREA: THE VÉSZTÕ-BIKERI SITE Introduction ..…………………………………………………………….. 6 The Geology of the KRAP Study Area .....………………………………. 7 Present Vegetation and Climate of the KRAP Study Area ..…………….. 7 Past Vegetation and Climate of the KRAP Study Area .………………… 8 Archaeobotanical Background for the KRAP Study Area ..…………….. 9 Conclusions .……………………………………………………………... 11 III. METHODOLOGY FOR INTERPRETING PLANT REMAINS FROM THE VÉSZTÕ-BIKERI SITE Introduction ……………………………………………………………… 16 General Archaeobotanical Inferences ………………………………….... 16 Specialized Archaeobotanical Inferences ..……………………………… 17 Conclusions …………………………….……………………………….. 20 IV. FIELD, LABORATORY AND IDENTIFICATION TECHNIQUES UTILIZED IN THE ANALYSIS OF ARCHAEOBOTANICAL MATERIAL FROM THE VÉSZTÕ- BIKERI SITE Introduction .…………………………………………………………….. 23 Field Sampling ..………………………………………………………… 23 Problems with Field Sampling …………………………………………. 26 Laboratory Techniques .………………………………………………… 26 Conclusions .……………………………………………………………. 37 iii V. INTERPRETATION OF THE PLANT REMAINS FROM THE VÉSZTÕ-BIKERI SITE Introduction ..……………………………………………………………. 49 Identified Plants in the Vésztõ-Bikeri Samples ..……………………….. 50 Cultural and Natural Processes Affecting the Botanical Record .………. 53 Conclusions .………………………………………………………….…. 55 VI. CONCLUSIONS .……………………………………………………………. 68 APPENDIX ……………….………………………………………………….… 70 WORKS CITED .………………………………………………………………… 73 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ..………………………………………………….. 79 iv LIST OF TABLES 1. Number of samples with botanical material taken from features and non-features areas ….…………………………………………… 38 2. Absolute Counts of Identifiable Botanical Material .………………………… 56 v LIST OF FIGURES 1. The Körös Regional Archaeological Project Area ……..…………………… 12 2. The Vésztõ-Bikeri site area …….…………………………………………… 13 3. Pollen diagram from Sirok Nyírjes Tó, located in northern Hungary ….…… 14 4. Archaeobotanical material associated with cultural period in Hungary .……. 15 5. Map of the Balkans and the Near East. Outlines boundary of Vinča culture .. 22 6. Plan Map of Block 2 ………………………………………………………… 39 7. Hordeum vulgare from Feature 15, Sample # 102 ……..…………………… 40 8. Cross section of Hordeum vulgare from Feature 15, Sample # 102 …...…… 41 9. Triticum aestivum from Feature 15, Sample # 102 ……...…………………… 42 10. Cornus mas from Feature 4, Sample # 11 ……………………….………… 43 11. Prunus sp. from Feature 4, Sample # 11 ..………….……………………… 44 12. Polygonum sp. from Feature 13, Sample # 75 ..…………………………… 45 13. Unknown seed from Feature 13, Sample # 65 ..…………………………… 46 14. Unknown seed from Feature 4, Sample # 20 ……………………………… 47 15. Unknown seed from a non-feature area …………………………………… 48 16. Presence percentage of botanical remains recovered from Block 2 ….…… 62 17. Percentages of identifiable botanical remains from Feature 4 ..…………… 63 18. Percentages of identifiable botanical remains from Feature 14 ..………….. 64 19. Percentages of identifiable botanical remains from Feature15 .…………… 65 20. Percentages of identifiable botanical remains from non-feature areas ……. 66 21. The burned house horizon in Southeastern Europe ….……………………. 67 vi ABSTRACT In past decades, archaeobotanical research has facilitated a better understanding of the impact of cultivated and wild plants in the Great Hungarian Plain. With the introduction of complex flotation systems and improved sampling methodologies, archaeobotanists have been able to produce comprehensive analyses of plant remains, aiding in defining stratigraphy and cultural contexts of archaeological sites. This study, which focuses on macrobotanical remains from the Early Copper Age archaeological site, Vésztõ-Bikeri, will investigate the presence and spatial variability of plant remains of plants at a settlement site. Selected botanical samples were examined using a presence- analysis to evaluate the exploitation and distribution of plant remains at the Vésztõ-Bikeri site. This thesis tests the proposition that differential distribution of plant remains at settlements can aid in understanding the social dynamics of the household unit. vii CHAPTER I ARCHAEOBOTANY IN HUNGARY: PAST AND PRESENT Introduction Since the beginning of archaeobotanical research in Hungary, few scholars have adequately investigated archaeobotanical materials to address questions concerning the temporal and spatial characteristics of settlements. Primarily, archaeobotanical and archaeological research in Hungary has focused on four archaeological periods: the Neolithic (6,000-4,500 B.C.), Bronze Age (3,000-900 B.C.), Iron Age (900 B.C.-0), and Middle Ages (A.D. 1000-1526) (Bognár-Kutzián 1963, 1972; Kalicz and Raczky 1987; Sherratt 1983). Unfortunately, one period, the Copper Age (4,500 – 3,000 B.C.) has been excluded from the many scholars’ investigations. Years ago Bognár-Kutzián stated, “the Early Copper Age is one of the most neglected fields of prehistoric research in Hungary” (1963:15). This statement still holds true when analyzing the Hungarian archaeological and archaeobotanical records. What little archaeological information is known about the Copper Age in Hungary has generally been collected from cemeteries, such as Tiszapolgár-Basatanya (Bognár- Kutzián 1963). Burial sites are limited in providing information about the daily lives of peoples. In recent years, scholars working in the region have expanded the archaeological scope and focused on settlement sites to understand the cultural diversity of this geographic area (Parkinson et al. 2004; Sherratt 1997). Nevertheless, knowledge about the exploitation and spatial characteristics of plant remains at Copper Age settlement sites is extremely limited in the archaeological literature. This thesis, which examines the macrobotanical remains from the Copper Age settlement site, Vésztõ- Bikeri, dated to 4,250 B.C, will focus on the presence/absence of botanical material to expose which plants were being utilized during this time period and to understand the differential distribution of plant resources on a settlement site (Chapman 1994; Parkinson et al. 2004; William Parkinson, personal communication 2003). 1 Archaeological Background of the Transition from the Late Neolithic to the Early Copper Age The transition from the Late Neolithic (ca. 5,000-4,500 BC) to the Early Copper Age (ca. 4,500-4,000) on the Great Hungarian Plain was a time of extensive social, political, and economic change. These cultural changes influenced human relationships on the local and regional level (Parkinson 1999). Sherratt (1983), Bognár-Kutzián (1972), and Raczky (1987) document a multitude of dramatic changes during this time period, such as modifications in house structure, settlement organization, trade networks, mortuary practices, and agricultural practices involving domesticated cattle. In spite of the vast literature that exists today about regional and local changes on the Plain, sufficient botanical information has not been gathered to create a model which would explain changes in plant exploitation. Consequently, archaeologists who study Southeastern Europe are receiving an incomplete and distorted cultural reconstruction of the past during this transitional phase. Cultural Changes in the Archaeological Record The dramatic changes in material culture that occurred on the Great Hungarian Plain at about 4,500 B.C. involved not only inter-group relationships, as revealed by the changes in settlement organization and trade networks, but also intra-group relationships, as shown by the changes in house form and mortuary customs (Parkinson 2003: 1). These dramatic changes documented in the archaeological record can be studied to gain a better understanding of the group dynamic and fluidity of the cultural transformations during this transitional period. They are described in the next few paragraphs to give a brief outline of the archaeological background for this transitional period. The cultural changes associated