SVENSKA INSTITUTEN I ATHEN OCH ROM INSTITUTUM ATHENIENSE ATQUE INSTITUTUM ROMANUM REGNI SUECIAE Opuscula Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome 9 2016 STOCKHOLM MELISSA VETTERS, ANN BRYSBAERT, MARIA NTINOU, GEORGIA TSARTSIDOU & EVI MARGARITIS* People and plants Piecing together archaeological and archaeobotanical data to reconstruct plant use and craft activities in Mycenaean Tiryns Abstract** Introduction Archaeobotanical data are often employed to reconstruct a site’s or a re- gion’s palaeoecology, human use of plants such as agricultural regimes, The Aegean consists of very diverse ecological niches. Togeth- and the interplay between vegetation and anthropogenic factors in the er, plant remains, palynological studies, and iconographic and palaeoenvironment. This paper aims to show that a context-specific inte- gration of such data helps to guide the focus beyond the macroscale and epigraphic analyses of plants in use by various communities may thus add significantly to the reconstruction of microscale activity over time provide a general picture of the palaeoecology of areas. New archaeobotanical data from four different find spots in the several regions within the Aegean. Lower Citadel of Tiryns, Greece, dating to the Mycenaean Palatial and This paper presents a localized analysis of plant remains Post-Palatial periods highlight the importance of combining the analysis from the Late Bronze Age site of Tiryns in the Argolid, of the fruit/seed macroremains with anthracological and phytolith stud- Greece (Fig. 1), in order to investigate questions of people- ies and integrating these results in their archaeological contextual study. plant interactions in select 13th–12th century BC contexts. Based on the data from botanical non-wood macroremains, wood char- coal, and phytoliths, the paper discusses methodological issues such as Tiryns is one of the most important sites of the Mycenaean differential preservation of archaeobotanical remains that only becomes period and has been archaeologically investigated for more evident if more than one analytical method is employed. The paper ad- than a century. During the Late Helladic (LH) period Tiryns ditionally presents a contextual interpretation of archaeological finds probably acted as one of the main harbours of the Argolid. and archaeobotanical remains that adds to a holistic picture of specific The site, located near the sea, comprised several settlement ar- activity areas, production sequences, and the multifunctional use of in- eas in the lowlands around the fortified citadel, which features stallations. one of the best preserved Mycenaean “palaces” of the 14th Keywords: Mycenaean Tiryns, archaeobotany, anthracology, phytoliths, and 13th centuries BC (LH IIIA–B) on its highest plateau, pyrotechnology the Upper Citadel. After the collapse of the Mycenaean pala- tial societies c. 1200 BC, Tiryns is one of the few sites on the * MV and AB were responsible for the initiation, funding, and imple- mentation of the project’s content, contextual information, and overall for laboratory and field-based analyses and we thank Professor Joseph editing of the paper. MN, GT, and EM contributed their specialist re- Maran for facilitating this. We are very grateful for the permit to study ports on the analyses of the anthracological, phytolith, and archaeobo- material from the Lower Citadel and for continuing support by the di- tanical macroremains respectively. The discussion of the results and the rector of the Tiryns excavations, Professor Joseph Maran. We especially conclusions were a joint effort by all contributors. thank the Ephor of the 4th Ephorate of Classical and Prehistoric An- tiquities, Alkestis Papadimitriou, who provided us with the sediment ** Acknowledgements samples from Room 10 and facilitated our sample applications, permit Research for this paper was carried out as part of the larger project (permit no. Φ 7/815, 11.02.2013) and work in the Tiryns’ storerooms. “Cross-Craft Interaction in the cross-cultural context of the late Bronze Georgia Tsartsidou would like to thank the M.H. Wiener Laboratory of Age Eastern Mediterranean” within the Leverhulme-funded Tracing the American School of Classical Studies in Athens for the use of their fa- Networks programme which we gratefully acknowledge. In addition, cilities. Ann Brysbaert would like to acknowledge her ERC Consolidator funds from the German-Israeli Foundation (grant no. 1080-132.4/2009, Grant (Project SETinSTONE, Grant no. 646667, duration 2015-2020) Research Project “Negotiating Change - Cultural and social transforma- during which the majority of this paper was written and took its final tions in the late 2nd millennium BCE East Mediterranean: case studies shape. We thank our anonymous reviewers for their useful comments. from Tiryns, Greece, and Tel es-Safi/Gath, Israel”) were made available Any errors remain our own. 94 • MELISSA VETTERS, ANN BRYSBAERT, MARIA NTINOU, GEORGIA TSARTSIDOU, EVI MARGARITIS • PEOPLE AND PLANTS Fig. 1. Map of Greece indicating Tiryns in the Argolid; by Anavasis editions/Hans Birk, adapted by M. Vetters. Greek mainland that seem to have witnessed an extension of All these studies have in common a site-wide but not context- its settlement area that flourished throughout the 12th cen- specific overview of the identified species and taxa. They are tury BC (LH IIIC).1 thus important for a general reconstruction of ecological and Heinrich Schliemann was the first to mention archaeo- environmental conditions, agricultural regimes, and the use of botanical finds from the Upper Citadel in Tiryns; in 1886 he specific plants in the later part of the LH period in Mycenaean reported “grape pips of unusually large size”.2 Almost a cen- Tiryns. From these, it seems that barley (Hordeum sp.) con- tury later, Helmut Kroll published a detailed report on plant stituted the main cereal crop,6 followed by einkorn (Triticum remains of the Mycenaean Late Palatial and Post-Palatial pe- monococcum) and emmer (Triticum dicoccum); cereals were riods from various contexts in the Lower Citadel and from apparently stored in husked form to prevent damage to the a settlement area outside and north of the citadel. Kroll also seeds. Legumes were mostly represented by bitter vetch (Vicia used the archaeobotanical evidence from Tiryns to discuss ervilia) and to a lesser degree by lentils (Lens culinaris), chick- traits of Mycenaean agriculture and plant use in general.3 A peas (Cicer arietinum) and peas (Pisum sativum).7 Figs (Ficus short report on plant finds from another Post-Palatial settle- carica) and grapes (Vitis vinifera) are abundantly attested while ment area north-east of the citadel was published in 2006.4 A a notable increase in olive (Olea europaea) cultivation during brief general review based on the archaeobotanical residues in the Mycenaean Palatial period is evidenced by frequent olive Tiryns recently summarized the evidence hitherto published.5 stones and charred olive wood representing the dominant taxa in the anthracological remains.8 The archaeobotanical record has also provided evidence for a few “exotic”’ species: pomegranate (Punica granatum) seeds were recorded,9 next to 1 For a general overview of the site and its history see Maran 2010; for Post-Palatial Tiryns see esp. Mühlenbruch 2013. 2 Schliemann 1886, 93. 3 Kroll 1982; 1984. For sampling procedures and methods of identifica- 6 Kroll 1982, 468. tion implemented in Tiryns and Kastanas see Kroll 1983, 21–24. 7 Kroll 1982, 476. 4 Pasternak 2006. 8 Kroll 1982, 484. 5 Mühlenbruch 2013, 278–281. 9 Kroll 1982, 477 fig. 1, 3, 482. PEOPLE AND PLANTS • MELISSA VETTERS, ANN BRYSBAERT, MARIA NTINOU, GEORGIA TSARTSIDOU, EVI MARGARITIS • 95 honey melon (Cucumis melo) seeds10 and a single uncharred palaeoenvironmental setting, as well as the archaeological specimen of tentatively identified rice (Oryza sativa).11 Other interpretation of these contexts.16 Tackling archaeobotanical non-comestible usages of plant parts are observed too in the data derived from unsystematic or incomplete sampling strat- archaeobotanical record of Tiryns. Of interest are the roots of egies often constitutes the last means to gain information on bugloss (Echium sp.), as a likely source of red dye; Kroll notes already excavated contexts and settlement areas. The current that bugloss is so common in the samples that it was probably paper thus aims to outline problems, but also to indicate how intentionally collected and brought to the settlement for fur- context-specific archaeobotanical analyses may add important ther processing.12 He argues for intensified agriculture in the new data for interpretation. The major advantage of an inte- Late Palatial period near or even beyond the carrying capacity grated archaeobotanical study involving different categories of the land coupled with intensive horticulture and an essen- of plant remains is that each method provides complemen- tially similar, but less intensive, agricultural regime during the tary information: woody species are identified by anthracol- Post-Palatial period.13 ogy, seed and fruits are identified by the analysis of non-wood Publications of archaeobotanical data for the Late Bronze macro remains, while the unburnt parts of the plants (fruits, Age Argolid are still few despite the long-term and large-scale leaves, stems) can also be detected by the study of phytoliths. excavations in this region with Tiryns providing most data Therefore a greater range of past plant uses can be investigated. so far.14