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The archaeobotanical analysis of the waste infill contributed to understanding its origin and composition based of two types of sample extraction. Large amount of desiccated botanical marco-remains was determinated. Beside of the common taxa rare imported species were also captured. Some of them are the first determinations in Central Europe; one case is the first evidence in Europe at all. The richness and uniqueness of the archaeobotanical collection declare the high society status, economical and cultural centre of the Prague castle in the early modern period.

Archaeobotanical data are often a mixture of material of different origins. The formation process of archaeobotanical records can often be different. Hence it is important to understand the structure of these fossil records before the data are used for various reconstructions and interpretations. The aim of my diploma thesis is to identify the taphonomic causes of differences between synanthropic species from different archaeological sites using plant traits. The greatest differences between sets of species in archaeobotanical situations are due to the way of preservation, ie. between charred and non-charred (waterlogged) macro-remains. My diploma thesis is based on data from the Archaeobotanical database of the Czech Republic. I focused on the Middle Ages, which is the best period in terms of the number of species and the number of sites. Using multidimensional analyses, I examined the structure of archaeobotanical data and then selected a relevant dataset to examine the differences in species composition between different types of conservation. After that I correlated the results with the species traits. I found that the structure of archaeobotanical data is very heterogeneous. In each of the two types of conservation, different species are preserved. These species are characterized by a...

This paper presents the results of archaeobotanical and malacological analyses of a midden dating to Ocucaje Phases 3 to 4 (c. 750 BC) in secure stratigraphic association beneath the contexts of an Early Nasca canal fragment in the Ullujaya Basin in the lower Ica Valley, on the south coast of Perú. Such preservation of early occupation contexts is otherwise rare within the landscape of the Lower Ica Valley, the topography of much of which is determined today by the long effects of wind erosion upon its once extant stratigraphy. These ancient rubbish remains contain no domesticated plant remains other than cotton, but only sea urchin debris and other marine and terrestrial mollusc resources gathered from the lomas and Pacific Ocean some 25 kilometres distant. They do contain some plant remains, including gathered wild foods such as huarango beans, and other plants typical of riparian woodland. We present these results in the context of other data from the Samaca and Ullujaya Basins, including the remains of middens from later time periods and a pollen sequence, to argue that, together, they show a steady intensification of agriculture in these basins during the subsequent Early Intermediate, but which culminates ultimately in a collapse of agricultural production here and a return to the gathering of wild marine and plant resources much later, during the Middle Horizon. / Este artículo presenta los resultados de análisis arqueobotánicos y malacológicos realizados en los materiales de un basural fechado hacia las fases Ocucaje 3 a 4 (c. 750 a.C.), con asociación estratigráfica segura debajo de los contextos de una sección de canal del Periodo Nasca Temprano en la cuenca de Ullujaya, en el valle bajo de Ica, costa sur del Perú. Semejante conservación de contextos de ocupación tempranos es poco común al interior del paisaje de esta zona, cuya topografía está determinada, en la actualidad, por los prolongados efectos de la erosión eólica sobre la que tenía en el pasado. Estos antiguos restos de basura no contienen vestigios de plantas domesticadas, con excepción del algodón, además de restos de erizos de mar y otros recursos en forma de mariscos marinos y terrestres recolectados de las lomas y el océano Pacífico, distante 25 kilómetros. Sin embargo, sí contienen algunos restos de plantas, entre las que están alimentos silvestres como semillas de huarango y otras plantas típicas de bosques ripícolas. Se presentan estos resultados en el contexto de otros datos procedentes de las cuencas de Samaca y Ullujaya —como, por ejemplo, los restos de basurales de épocas posteriores y una secuencia palinológica— con el objeto de mostrar, en conjunto, la sostenida intensificación de la agricultura en estas zonas durante el subsiguiente Periodo Intermedio Temprano, lo que desembocó en el colapso de la producción agrícola y el retorno a la recolección de recursos marinos y vegetales durante el Horizonte Medio.