Seeds from the Fire: Charred Plant Remains from Kristian Kristiansen´s Excavations in , Denmark, Hungary and

Hans-Peter Stika and Andreas G. Heiss

Abstract: Archaeobotanical analyses accompanied several excavation campaigns in Kristian Kristiansen’s international projects. The specific questions addressed in these analyses ranged from understanding past subsistence strategies in general to the spatial organisation of settlements and inside buildings, and, finally, also to issues of trade and of factors influencing crop choices. In early Bronze Age Thy, Denmark, naked barley and emmer were grown for household consumption only and not for surplus production. Manuring is indicated for the later phases. In early Bronze Age Tanum, naked barley and hulled wheat species were dominant, shifting to hulled barley in the late Bronze Age. At middle Bronze Age Százhalombatta, Hungary, the main crops were einkorn and hulled barley as well as lentil and pea. A wider spectrum of crops was available than at the Scandinavian sites, where meat was the main protein source. In Százhalombatta and on Monte Polizzo, Sicily, the human diet mainly consisted of vegetable food including legumes. Crops at early Iron Age Monte Polizzo, the most intensively studied site discussed in this paper, also seem to have been produced in over-abundance, and used for trade. At ‘House 1’ on Monte Polizzo, the different uses of rooms were reconstructed via the archaeological and botanical record, both highlighting activities such as ritual consumption, everyday life, crop processing and crop storage. Keywords: agriculture, archaeobotany, Bronze Age, crops, Tanum, Thy, Százhalombatta, Iron Age, , Monte Polizzo, subsistence

Introduction Methods

The EOEC project (‘The Emergence of European Communities’)1, All archaeobotanical analyses discussed in this contribution initiated by Kristian Kristiansen and supported by the ‘Improving essentially share a common methodology: charred plant remains the Human Research Potential’ programme by the European were extracted from the surrounding sediments by flotation Commission, aims at investigating the formation of early political (basically an immersion of the soil samples in water, see Jacomet communities in Europe between the second and first millennium & Kreuz 1999). The floating light fraction was washed through BC, applying archaeology embedded in an interdisciplinary a set of sieves with varying mesh sizes (Fig. 1), then dried and scientific network. stored until analysis. Analysis in the laboratory followed standard methodology (see Stika 1996:18-20). For the imaging of seeds and In each of the archaeological excavations of the project – Sweden fruits a stereo microscope (Wild Photomikroskop M 400) and a (Tanum), Hungary (Százhalombatta) and Italy (Monte Polizzo, Canon Power Shot A 95 digital camera were used. SEM images Sicily) – extensive archaeobotanical research on macrobotanical were made using a Philips XL 20 scanning electron microscope remains was carried out. These analyses were mainly funded by after application of a gold/palladium sputter coating. the Swedish Riksbankens Jubileumsfond and, in the case of Monte Polizzo, co-funded by Stanford University. 2Archaeobotanical Parts of the archaeobotanical analyses’ results presented in this analysis in the associated excavation at Thy, Denmark, was funded article (Table 1) have previously been published or are soon to be by Northwestern University, Chicago.3 published, such as the data from /Monte Polizzo (Stika et al. 2008), from Thy (Stika forthcoming) or from Százhalombatta The mainly charred plant remains from the excavated features (Stika and Heiss in press). were primarily expected to result in information on the agriculture of the respective sites, such as the methods of field management Case study 1: Thy (northern Denmark), early to late Bronze and the processing of the crops and their use in daily nutrition. Age Spatial diversity in agricultural processing within the investigated sites was another goal of the work: for the Iron Age ‘House 1’ In northern Danish Jutland, excavations in north-western Thy at Monte Polizzo, and for several middle Bronze Age houses at at the sites of Bjerre Enge and Legård uncovered early and late Százhalombatta, archaeobotanical sampling was carried out within Bronze Age houses as well as remains of late Bronze Age field a very dense grid in order to provide high-resolution spatial data systems (e.g. Bech 1997; Bech et al. forthcoming). This coastal within single houses. The third, but most difficult, question to area had been inhabited from 1500 - 800 BC, and, according to answer was whether the identified crops had been cultivated for vegetation reconstruction based on pollen analysis, the ancient subsistence alone, or if they had been available in such quantities seabed area where the settlements had been erected had been that surplus production was available for trading. deforested somewhat earlier, during the Late Neolithic (Andersen 1995a, 1995b).

1 See the online resources at http://www.eoec.org/ Plant macrofossil analyses (Henriksen & Harild 2002; Vretemark 2 Excavations directed by Ian Morris et al. 2010; Stika forthcoming) were carried out on samples taken 3 Excavations directed by Timothy Earle

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2010) local access to dung must have been rather easy because of extensive livestock breeding, the dung serving both for manuring and as fuel.

Case study 2: Tanum (Bohuslän, south-western Sweden), Bronze Age

Excavations in the coastal region of Bohuslän mainly focused on rock art sites such as Tossene. Archaeological features were uncovered for roughly the same time range (early Bronze Age to early Iron Age) as is commonly attributed to the local rock art, as far as these can be dated (Ling 2009). Arable land is very limited in the region today (Bertilsson 1987), and it was obviously even more so in the Bronze Age, when shorelines lay at the very least 10 m higher than today (Miller & Robertsson 1988; Påsse 2003; Berntsson 2005).

The results of archaeobotanical research in Tanum (Table 1), together with a review of the region (Gustafsson 1998), suggest that in the early Bronze Age, agriculture in central and southern Sweden was mainly based on emmer, spelt, einkorn (T. monococcum) and naked barley (Hordeum vulgare var. nudum), while hulled barley (H. vulgare var. vulgare) and naked wheat were only of minor importance. During this period, broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) and gold-of-pleasure were introduced to the region. Towards the late Bronze Age, the importance of naked barley and hulled wheats decreased while hulled barley became the main cereal crop (Gustafsson 1998). Flax (Linum usitatissimum) was introduced to the area in the late Bronze Age. Like in the Danish sites, these data are interpreted as deriving from the shift from non-permanent fields in the early Bronze Age to permanent fields in the late Bronze Age, maintained by systematic Fig. 1 The Sicily flotation machine in operation, based in the archaeological park of near the sanctuary of Demeter manuring (Gustafsson 1998). The change in house architecture – Malophoros. Image: H.-P. Stika. the switch from two-aisled houses to three-aisled houses – resulted in easier availability of manure necessary for this, as this type of house, with an integrated stable, allowed the indoor breeding of animals (Bech et al. forthcoming). Gathering of dung was also systematically from houses and surrounding areas, as well as from possible at outdoor fold yards, which were interpreted from the pits. The results (Table 1) show that throughout the Bronze Age excavated structures there. Also the switch from naked barley and the main cereal was naked six-rowed barley (Hordeum vulgare var. hulled wheats towards hulled barley seems to have been fostered nudum). In the early Bronze Age emmer (Triticum dicoccum) was by manuring: the latter cereal responds more rapidly to increased also a common crop whereas spelt (Triticum spelta) was grown nutrient contents in the soil (Viklund 1998). on a smaller scale. In the late Bronze Age, the importance of the hulled wheats, emmer and spelt, decreased in favour of bread Case study 3: Százhalombatta (Hungary), middle Bronze wheat (Triticum aestivum). A remarkable4 find in the late Bronze Age Age layers is the oilseed gold-of-pleasure (Camelina sativa). Plant remains from the tell settlement of Százhalombatta-Földvár The weed flora also shifts from a narrow spectrum in the earlier (2000-1400 BC) were analysed with the main target of spatial phase towards higher biodiversity in the later period, indicating a organization of domestic structures by systematically sampling shift towards permanent fields and to manuring in the transition both inside houses and their surroundings. The localization of the from the early Bronze Age to late Bronze Age – without fertilizing, various agricultural activities was of particular interest, such as the sandy soils would not have supported maintenance of harvesting, threshing, winnowing or grinding (e.g. Hillman 1984). permanent fields. Potsherds and charcoal found in the field areas The project is, however, still in a preliminary stage (Berzsényi et are additional indicators of manuring as they point to the use of al. 2010). household refuse for fertilization (Stika forthcoming). Wood was a scarce resource in the deforested landscape: built structures The available archaeobotanical record, mainly based on middle consisting of low quality wood from degraded stands (poplar, Bronze Age pits (Table 1), suggests that hulled barley (Hordeum Populus sp.) point towards a generally low availability (Malmros vulgare var. vulgare) and einkorn were cultivated as the main forthcoming). Fuel seems to have been based on other sources due cereals in Százhalombatta. Additionally finds of ‘new type’ hulled to the same reason, such as on peat and dung. As indicated by the wheat (Triticum cf. timopheevi), emmer and spelt as well as the high numbers of cattle bones discovered in Thy (Vretemark et al. free-threshing bread wheat, naked barley, millet and rye (Secale cereale), indicate that a wide range of cereals grew in the local 4 Oilseeds in general have a very low chance for preservation in charred state due fields. The main pulses were lentil (Lens culinaris) and pea (Pisum to their high content of fatty oils: when exposed to high temperatures during charring, sativum), while bitter vetch (Vicia ervilia) and field bean (V. faba) the highly inflammable oil vapours usually lead to the rupture of the seeds, and to their complete combustion, leaving no analysable traces for the archaeobotanist. were rarely grown in Százhalombatta. Seed finds of the oil plants

78 Hans-Peter Stika and Andreas G. Heiss: Seeds from the Fire

Table 1 Total sums of useful plants identified in the sites discussed in the text. If not mentioned otherwise, the numbers refer to finds of seeds and fruits. BA: Bronze Age, EBA: early Bronze Age, MBA: middle Bronze Age, LBA: late Bronze Age, IA: Iron Age, EIA: early Iron Age.

Site Tanum, Salemi Thy 3414 Százhalombatta- Tossene Legård Földvar Monte Old (Raä) Polizzo Town 7th-6th 5th-4th Period EBA LBA BA/IA MBA LBA EIA c. BC c. BC Number of analysed samples 8 11 27 89 2 8 255 13 Cereal grains 37 763 58 7197 190 580 1025 25 Cereal grains oat species (weedy Avena sp. – 12 12 1 – 1 12 – form?) Hordeum vulgare 15 104 14 671 10 10 178 2 barley Hordeum vulgare var. 1 13 7 1227 4 40 5 – hulled barley vulgare Hordeum vulgare var. 7 51 – 16 – – – – naked barley nudum Panicum miliaceum – 5 – 57 70 8 – – broomcorn millet Secale cereale ––– 5 –––– rye (weedy form?) Triticum aestivum / T. durum – 11 2 30 – 7 86 4 bread/durum wheat Triticum dicoccum 4 252 1 149 1 17 70 – emmer Triticum monococcum – 1 – 2222 41 215 2 – einkorn Triticum spelta – 6 – 70 6 7 – – spelt Triticum sp. ‘hulled wheat’ – 41 – 163 – 31 80 – hulled wheat Triticum sp. – 28 – 435 6 54 17 – wheat species Cerealia, Indet. 10 239 22 2151 52 190 575 19 cereals, unidentified Cereal chaff 2 100 3 8706 644 110 126 – Cereal chaff Hordeum vulgare var. – 1 – – – – – – hulled barley vulgare Hordeum vulgare var. – 2 – – – – – – naked barley nudum Hordeum vulgare – 9 – 133 3 1 4 – barley Triticum aestivum / T. durum –––––– 7 – bread/durum wheat Triticum cf. dicoccum 2 76 – 51 – 3 51 – emmer Triticum cf. monococcum – – – 1571 92 25 5 – einkorn Triticum ‘new type’ ––– 249 32 8 – – hulled wheat ‘new type’ Triticum cf. spelta ––– 71 130 6 – – spelt Triticum monococcum/ ––– 6467 375 62 –– einkorn/emmer/new type dicoccum/new type Triticum sp. ‘hulled wheat’ – 10 – 64 4 – 43 – hulled wheat species Cerealia, Indet. – 2 3 100 8 5 16 – cereals Oil plants – – 2 16 –– 13 4 Oil plants Camelina sativa –– 1 11 – – – – gold-of-pleasure Carthamus tinctorius ––– 1 –––– safflower Linum usitatissimum, seeds – – 1 2 –– 5 – common flax Linum usitatissimum, –––––– 7 – common flax capsule fragments Olea europea, stone – – – – – – – 4 olive fragments Papaver somniferum ––– 2 –– 1 – opium poppy Pulses/legumes –– 1 938 3 47 55 – Pulses/legumes Lens culinaris ––– 278 1 19 – – lentil Pisum sativum ––– 137 – 5 –– garden pea Vicia ervilia ––– 38 – 4 – – bitter vetch Vicia faba ––– 5 –– 48 – broad bean Fabaceae cult., Indet. – – 1 480 2 19 7 – cultivated legumes Cultivated fruit –––––– 46 13 Cultivated fruit Ficus carica –––––– 32 7 fig

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Prunus dulcis –––––– 1 – almond Vitis vinifera –––––– 13 6 grape vine Condiments –––––– 3 – Condiments Coriandrum sativum –––––– 2 – coriander Pimpinella anisum –––––– 1 – aniseed Vegetable/salad plants (wild ––– 149 – 1 1 – Vegetable/salad plants or cultivated) Beta vulgaris – – – – – – – – beetroot Portulaca oleracea ––– 124 – 1 – – little hogweed Valerianella dentata ––– 25 –– 1 – narrowfruit cornsalad Gathered wild fruit – 1 11 41 – 2 9 – Gathered wild fruit Cornus mas ––– 21 – 2 – – cornelian cherry Corylus avellana – 1 10 – – – – – hazelnut Fragaria vesca – – – 4 – – – – woodland strawberry Juniperus communis –– 1 – – – – – juniper Malus sylvestris / M. ––– 1 –––– crab apple/apple domestica Prunus spinosa ––– 1 –– 9 – sloe Rubus sp. ––– 1 – – – – brambles species Sambucus ebulus ––– 10 – – – – dwarf elderberry Sambucus nigra ––– 3 – – – – black elderberry

gold-of-pleasure, linseed/flax, opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) 2003:186). In contrast to themselves, the ‘civilized’ Greeks and safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) indicate their cultivation. deprecatingly called the indigenous peoples elymoi – ‘millet Data on spatial variability in plant remains distribution is already eaters’ (cited in De Angelis 2006:31). These topoi, as documented available in house 3147 (Berzsényi et al. 2010): these indicate by historic and epigraphic/numismatic sources, have now been that some stages of crop cleaning (possibly winnowing, hand- tested against scientific data from bioarchaeology. sorting and grinding) were indeed carried out inside the house. Close to the hearths, however, only final products (the cleaned Archaeobotanical research cereal grains) were taken to the areas of the hearths and baking ovens for further food preparation as nearly no archaeobotanical At the Elymian Iron Age site on top of the mountain Monte remains were found there. Future research will allow more Polizzo (prov. Trapani, commune di Salemi, western Sicily) detailed conclusions. archaeobotanical investigations were carried out on a large scale (Stika 2005; Stika et al. 2008). In this area, spatial distances Case study 4: Monte Polizzo (Sicily), Early Iron Age between the different ethnic groups were indeed small: from this Elymian settlement, the Greek harbour town of Selinunte Geographical and political environment (Selinous) in the south, as well as the Phoenician/Punic colony of in the west, were in sight, as was the next Elymian town, During the early Iron Age, Sicily was inhabited by several , to the north. ethnic groups: indigenous Sicilian settlements as well as Punic and Greek colonies were situated close to each other (Fig. 2), General results on agriculture and subsistence on Monte and they interacted in complex ways affecting political, cultural Polizzo and economic life as documented in numerous reports based on the archaeological and historical record (cf. Leighton 1999; De Find densities (Table 1) were very low in general, and importance Angelis 2006). Replacing the once popular idea of the indigenous of cultivated crops is mainly illustrated by their frequency of people ‘colonized’ by the Greeks, fostered by numerous Greek appearance in the samples. Three main cereals were found: hulled finds in the indigenous Elymian settlements from the seventh/ multi-rowed barley, emmer, and free-threshing wheat (Triticum sixth century B.C. (Leighton 1999:220, 232), the alternative aestivum / T. durum). Only a few remains of einkorn, another term of ‘transculturation’ has been suggested (Streiffert Eikeland hulled wheat, were found. Finds of oat (Avena sp.) supposedly 2006:17-26), which more directly points out the mutual character derive from one of the wild oat species. Another important crop for of these interactions. alimentation was the faba bean/field bean; so far, other pulses are absent from Monte Polizzo. The oilseeds linseed/flax and opium Some questions regarding agricultural similarities or differences poppy are also documented in the find record, as are the following between the ethnic groups have already been raised by ancient fruits and nuts: fig (Ficus carica), grapevine (Vitis vinifera) and Greek sources: the high quality of Selinountine wheat was praised almond (Prunus dulcis). While coriander (Coriandrum sativum), by Theophrastus, and the cereal ears depicted on Selinountine which was also found, is a typical horticultural plant, the narrow- tetradrachms from the fifth century B.C. may illustrate their fruited corn salad (Valerianella dentata) might just have been economic importance for the region (cited in De Angelis gathered in the wild.

80 Hans-Peter Stika and Andreas G. Heiss: Seeds from the Fire

Fig. 2 Important settlements of the early Iron Age in Sicily (Morris et al. 2004:247). Map source: LaFleur et al. (2001), modified. Bottom right: Aerial photograph of Monte Polizzo, with the excavation areas indicated (Morris et al. 2004:248). Map source: Google (2007), modified.

Crop processing must have taken place within the settlement, Hillman 1984; Jones 1984, 1987). The nutrition-demanding weeds as indicated by the frequent occurrence of cereal chaff, Linum indicate that the crops must have been cultivated on good quality capsule fragments and weeds. The type of weeds and the ratio soils. As a regional survey of the fertile arable land around Monte between chaff, weeds and grains indicate different stages of crop Polizzo displayed (Kolb 2004), hints of agrarian settlements in the processing and storage. Capsule fragments of linseed/flax show close vicinity from early Iron Age are very scarce. Most probably that this crop was processed for the use of seeds and/or the use due to uncertain times the peasants may have cultivated their fields of its fibres. while living in the town on Monte Polizzo. As the botanical finds from other parts of the Elymian settlement on Monte Polizzo have A spatially diversified household: ‘House 1’ shown– especially from the huge midden layer on the northern slope – the processing of cereals and linseed took place inside Seeds and fruits the ancient town.

The find densities in the analysed sediments from House 1 were The interpretation of the excavated walls of House 1 is very low (an average of 0.7 finds per litre). At a total, 235 charred controversial (Streiffert Eikeland 2006; Sørensen 2010). plant finds (without charcoal) appeared in 84 samples. No obvious Following the reconstructions of the excavators (Mühlenbock concentrations of carbonized grains were encountered, and & Prescott 2004a, b), their interpretations (Sørensen 2010) some samples did not contain any identifiable charred material. concerning function and use of the different rooms match up very Nevertheless, the results are of high interest in regard to the well with the archaeobotanical interpretations. The high quality reconstruction of daily activity. archaeological finds from House 1 (see Mühlenbock & Prescott 2004a) suggest a household of high social rank. Archaeobotanical The charred remains of cereal grains and fruits in House 1 might finds of fig and grapevine may be scare in thec . 500 samples from be interpreted as vestiges of cooking activities and especially all trenches of the Monte Polizzo excavations. But, within the in the case of the fruit remains they might have derived from very few botanical finds from House 1, they are overrepresented. consumption. Concerning chaff and weeds, the spectrum of Special use of fig and grape vine during symposiums might be archaeobotanical finds points to crop processing activities (cf. the reason for that. At its end, House 1 partly burnt down. The

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Fig. 3 Floor plan of House 1, Monte Polizzo. Shaded areas indicate the reconstructed rooms. Triangles indicate the positions of soil samples for macrofossil analysis, pie charts display the proportions of the analysed charcoal assemblages. Map source: Intrasis database of the EEC-EU project, modified.

few archaeobotanical residues of seeds, fruits, cereal grains and (Quercus sp.). In the material, the evergreen oak taxa were clearly cereals chaff might indicate frequent and thorough cleaning of the distinguishable from the deciduous species: deciduous oaks have floors when the house was still in use. The few charred botanical conspicuously ring-porous (sometimes half-ring-porous) wood finds might be exactly those residues which were lying on the floor with very large earlywood vessels and small latewood vessels, when the destructive fire took place. So, we might have a snapshot corresponding with their phenological periodicity (i.e. shedding of activities from the very last period of House 1. their leaves at a certain time of the year). Evergreen oak wood is diffuse-porous (rarely half-ring-porous) with constantly small Localizing the residues of fig and grapevine in a map of the vessels, and usually does not display any growth ring boundaries foundation walls of House 1 (Fig. 3) indicates that these finds were (Fig. 5; see also e.g. Schweingruber 1990). A minor part of the located in room 1 and room 6, archaeologically being interpreted House 1 charcoal (7% of the fragments; 26.1% of total charcoal as places with ritual consumption, most probably following a weight) derived from olive tree (Olea europaea), the third woody Greek symposium as high-quality imported Greek-ware might plant genus identified in the House 1 charcoal was elm (Ulmus sp.; suggest. Only one pip of grapevine was found in room 2 which is 9.8% of the fragments, 22.5% of total charcoal weight). However, interpreted as a room of less prominent social consumption, where the different elm species cannot be differentiated from each other local gray-ware was used. Faba bean was found in room 1 at a via their wood anatomy. hearth/oven where food preparation was undertaken. A charred sloe fruit (Prunus spinosa) and one seed of pulses appeared in As documented in Stika et al. (2008), the charcoal samples from room 5 together with finds of storage vessels. These crops were Monte Polizzo excavation trenches Saggio S and Loci A, C, and probably stored there together with cereals as there are some E had originated from carbonized roof beams. This archaeological scattered grain finds from there, too (Fig. 4). Weed seeds are interpretation went together well with archaeobotanical analysis, widespread in the rooms 1, 2 and 3-4, while they are scarce in as the material’s dendrological features pointed to the utilization of rooms 5 and 6. Cereal chaff is found in rooms 1, 2, and 3-4 while trunks or thick branches. For House 1, we now observed a similar chaff finds are missing in rooms 5 and 6. Both compartments species composition with similar dendrological properties. The are classified as storage rooms indicated by the huge vessels conclusion is therefore near at hand that a major part of the House which were found there. The crop processing has taken place in a 1 charcoal also derived from construction wood. different area (rooms 1, 2, 3-4) than where the storage was located (rooms 5 and 6). Conclusions on the former environmental situation of Monte Polizzo inferred from charcoal analysis are still rather limited The charcoal evidence due to the small spectrum of taxa identified. What seems almost certain is that natural mixed forest stands (documented by elm The number of woody taxa identified in the charcoal material and by deciduous and evergreen oaks) were widely available was unexpectedly very limited. The major part (both by fragment at the time, and that no major degradation of local vegetation numbers and by fragment weight) consisted of oak wood had taken place yet. The absence of pine (Pinus) species in the

82 Hans-Peter Stika and Andreas G. Heiss: Seeds from the Fire

Fig. 4 Charred seeds/fruits from the Monte Polizzo excavations. a, b emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum) grain and glume base, c naked wheat (Triticum aestivum/durum) grain, d hulled barley (Hordeum vulgare) grain, e field bean (Vicia faba) seed, f grapevine (Vitis vinifera) seed, g sloe (Prunus spinosa) endocarp. Images: H.-P. Stika charcoal record may point to the same fact. The reasons for the much more demanding than growing emmer and barley. Thus, the strong representation of olive tree in the (supposed) construction surroundings of Monte Polizzo are much more suitable for local wood still remains unclear, especially when taking into account production of free-threshing wheats than the Selinountine region. the fact that not a single fragment of olive stones has been found The Greek town of Selinunte might have imported free-threshing on Monte Polizzo so far. Interpretation of these results would be wheats from the indigenous , who might have based their mostly speculative at the current time, such as local Elymians own nutrition on barley and emmer. Thus, pointing to the initial not using olives (thus completely questioning Olea cultivation question on the validity of written records, the Greek should have on Monte Polizzo, and interpreting any stands as natural), or called these people krithophagoi (barley eaters) instead of elymoi exporting the whole and unprocessed crops to other settlements. (millet eaters). Future investigations may bring more clarity on that matter. Cultural distinctions in the use of pulses can also be discussed. Conclusions on Elymian subsistence and trade The pulses lentil and bitter vetch are listed for Selinunte, but the faba bean is missing there. So while the Greeks used lentil and Interpretation of the archaeobotanical results from Monte bitter vetch, Elymians preferred faba bean, as the archaeobotanical Polizzo is facilitated by comparing the data to the results from finds from the two sites suggest. Another cultural difference can the contemporary Greek town of Selinunte (Selinous), situated be seen in the use of oil and fat. While Selinunte provided plenty at the southern coast of western Sicily (c. 35 km to the south of of finds of fruit stone fragments from olive, these types of finds Monte Polizzo). In this Greek settlement, free-threshing wheat were missing from Iron Age Monte Polizzo, whereas charcoal was the dominant cereal, while hulled barley was common but analyses detected the use of olive tree wood for timberwork there. less important – emmer wheat was far from any importance (Stika Chemical analysis of an amphora from Monte Polizzo indicated et al. 2008). that the vessel had contained animal fat (Agozzino 2005). These results might suggest a difference in the respective food systems: As the rural hinterland of Selinunte seems to have been dominated Greek olive oil versus Elymian animal fat as well as the use of by widespread undisturbed climax vegetation during the Bronze different cereals and pulses. Age (suggested by a pollen profile from Gorgo Basso, located close to Selinunte; Tinner et al. 2009), cereals do not seem to have As the charcoal analyses from the early Iron Age site of Monte been produced in this region on a large scale during early Iron Polizzo have shown, beams of deciduous and evergreen oak were Age. In addition, even today the soils around Selinunte are not as used for roofing. Consequently, tall oak trees must have been fertile as those in the Monte Polizzo area (De Angelis 2003, 180- available to the inhabitants of the ancient town on Monte Polizzo 183): concerning fertility, the cultivation of free-threshing wheat is to be used as a construction timber. As up to now the charcoal

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Fig. 5 SEM images of charcoal from the Monte Polizzo excavations. a-c olive (Olea europaea), d-f elm (Ulmus sp.), g-i deciduous oak (Quercus sp.), j-l evergreen oak (Quercus sp.). Left row (a, d, g, j): transversal view, middle row (b, e, h, k): tangential view, right row (c, f, i, l): radial view. Images: A. G. Heiss.

record has not provided any evidence on pioneer taxa (e.g. pine), transition from early to late Bronze Age, crop plant spectrum a rather undisturbed climax vegetation at Iron Age Monte Polizzo slightly diversifies probably due to fertilizing the fields with can be assumed. The local deciduous oak species are restricted to dung. In Sweden, the shift from naked to hulled barley takes higher elevations and surely must have derived from the mountain place in the transition from early to late Bronze Age, while in itself. The results of the pollen profile from Gorgo Basso (Tinner northern Jutland this shift happened much later, around AD 100. et al. 2009) support the assumption of widespread undisturbed In general, crop cultivation in this region seems to have been climax vegetation in western Sicily during the Bronze Age. less important in comparison to herding, fishing and animal-based nutrition in general. The landscape in Thy seems to have been General Conclusions widely deforested, and wood as a resource for timber and fuel was hardly available. In both Scandinavian Bronze Age sites (Tanum in Sweden and Thy in Denmark), the spectrum of cultivated plants is quite narrow, At the Hungarian site of Százhalombatta, upon the floodplains of compared to Bronze Age sites across central and southern Europe the river Danube, the landscape was completely different to that (Stika & Heiss forthcoming). Crop cultivation is mainly limited of the Scandinavian sites. Soil fertility was high in the upland to barley, emmer and, in later periods, also bread wheat. Apart for cultivating the main crops, einkorn and barley, as well as the from cereals, other cultivated plants are markedly scarce. In the pulses lentil and pea, as an important protein source when human

84 Hans-Peter Stika and Andreas G. Heiss: Seeds from the Fire

consumption consisted mainly of vegetable food. In addition, DE ANGELIS, F., 2006. Going against the grain in Sicilian Greek growing pulses contributes to soil fertility. The list of cultivated economy. Greece & Rome 53:29-47. plants is long for the middle Bronze Age period, and the highly GOOGLE, 2007. Google Earth. Software. Available on the internet at diversified species mix displays the availability of a wide range http://earth.google.com/ GUSTAFSSON, S. 1998 The Farming Economy in South and Central of crops coming from the Balkans and the Near East. The ‘new Sweden during the Bronze Age. A Study Based on Carbonised type’ glume wheat (probably Timopheev´s wheat) and safflower Botanical Evidence. Current Swedish Archaeology 6:63-71. are just two species which were found in Százhalombatta but never HENRIKSEN, P. S. and J. A. HARILD, 2002. Smedegård, en byhøj fra arrived in northern Europe. Thy. Arkæobotaniske undersøgelser. Copenhagen: Nationalmuseet (NNU-rapport 20). In early Iron Age Sicily, at the site of Monte Polizzo, natural HILLMAN, G., 1984. Interpretation of archaeological plant remains: forests unexpectedly seem to have still existed at the beginning The application of ethnographic models from Turkey. In W. van Zeist of the settlement phase. Agriculture on the fertile soils was and W.A. Casparie (eds.), Plants and Ancient Man: 1-41. Rotterdam/ conducted on a large scale and free-threshing wheat was produced Boston: Balkema. to be exported to Greek Selinunte, while the Elymian inhabitants JACOMET, S. and A. KREUZ, 1999. Archäobotanik. Aufgaben, Methoden und Ergebnisse vegetations- und agrargeschichtlicher Forschung. lived on barley and emmer. Pulses were probably the most Stuttgart: Verlag Eugen Ulmer. important protein source – more important than meat – for the JONES, G., 1984. Interpretation of archaeological plant remains: local population. Also, traces of the familiar Mediterranean fruit ethnographic models from Greece. 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86 Counterpoint: Essays in Archaeology and Heritage Studies in Honour of Professor Kristian Kristiansen

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Counterpoint: Essays in Archaeology and Heritage Studies in Honour of Professor Kristian Kristiansen

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