Over the past decade, historians and archaeologists have become increasingly aware that the Mid Saxon period in England (7th-9th centuries AD) witnessed a transformation in agricultural practices. According to the emergent consensus, in contrast to the heavily pastoral, broadly subsistence-based mode of agriculture characteristic of the Early Saxon period (5th-7th centuries), Mid Saxon agriculture was geared towards higher levels of surplus production and placed a greater emphasis upon arable farming. The increased cultivation of bread wheat and the specialist production of sheep’s wool have been identified as particularly important innovations of this period. This thesis represents the first attempt to explore agricultural development in Mid Saxon England on a systematic archaeological basis. It considers settlement, zooarchaeological, and archaeobotanical evidence in detail, with a special emphasis on charred plant remains. The analyses utilize data gathered from excavation reports, published and unpublished, covering two case study regions: (i) the Upper/Middle Thames valley and environs, and (ii) East Anglia and Essex. In addition, a sub-assemblage of charred plant remains from a Mid Saxon monastic site at Lyminge (Kent) is studied at first hand. In this way, a series of agricultural innovations is identified in the archaeological record, including in particular: specialized pastoralism, an increased emphasis on sheep in some regions, an expansion of arable production, growth in fibre production, growth in cereal surpluses, a consequent investment in specialist storage and processing facilities, and a general diversification of crop spectra. These innovations were contingent upon, and adapted to, local environmental factors. The process of agricultural development is thought to have begun in the 7th century and continued through the 8th and 9th centuries, facilitated and stimulated by newly consolidated élite landholdings and, probably, a growing population.

The separation of agricultural practice from urban communities has long been understood as a key defining feature of urban societies. This thesis investigates the relationship between developments in agriculture and urbanisation in Late Iron Age and Roman Britain. The Late Iron Age period saw the rise of oppida, characterised by extensive dyke systems, the presence of elites and imported material culture. Three models of the agricultural basis of oppida are currently available: agricultural innovations, surplus production, and non-arable settlements. These three models have been evaluated through three methods: the analysis of charred, waterlogged and mineralised plant remains from Silchester, an oppidum and civitas capital in southern Britain; the quantitative analysis of secondary archaeobotanical data from the regional area of the Hampshire Downs and the Thames Valley; and the synthesis of archaeobotanical evidence for food and agriculture at oppida and Roman towns in Britain. Key findings are that spelt wheat and barley were cultivated at Late Iron Age Silchester in combination with a new crop (flax), new management techniques (hay meadows) and the consumption of new plant foods (olives, celery and coriander). Following the establishment of the Roman civitas capital, the agricultural basis continued unchanged for several decades before a re-organisation c. AD70/80, whereby crop-processing ceased within Silchester. The regional crop-processing and weed ecology analysis shows that arable farming was conducted at Silchester, and that large-scale handling of cereals was not occurring unlike at earlier hillforts, and later towns. The evidence for animal stabling, flax cultivation, haymaking, and new plant foods from Silchester are interpreted as representing the coalescence of a rural population, developing new farming techniques to cope with the nucleated population, and therefore supportive of internal models of oppida development.

Nos últimos dez anos, há um crescente esforço na Arqueologia Amazônica para repensar as mudanças sociais e econômicas acerca dos processos de longa duração dos povos indígenas durante o período pré-colonial. O Período Formativo, cunhado para alocar tais populações em um estágio intermediário de evolução, vem sendo descontruído em prol de perspectivas alternativas sobre as formas de organização e interação que refletem o tecer e o constante re-tecer das redes ameríndias, com base em historicidades cíclicas contra-estatais que inibem a centralização política. Neste contexto, diversos estudos vêm contribuindo para a desvinculação dos traços materiais \"formativos\", tais quais a emergência da vida sedentária, de plantas domesticadas, da produção de cerâmicas utilitárias e um processo progressivo de intensificação da produtividade agrícola. Há uma gradativa mudança do fator ambiental, de gatilho de adaptações humanas para produto das escolhas sociais na formação de florestas antrópicas e criação de uma biodiversidade de plantas úteis. A crítica ao determinismo agrícola e à presença de staple foods se combina com um crescente investimento na compreensão acerca da convivência entre espécies domesticadas e silvestres e da existência de contextos de abandono de espécies domesticadas (como o milho), e nos abrem espaço para repensar o papel do cultivo na Amazônia Antiga. Neste cenário, a presente pesquisa teve como objetivo reunir e produzir dados arquebotânicos que permitissem uma avaliação do modelo de intensificação agrícola e da construção de florestas antropogênicas. O Sudoeste Amazônico, marcado por uma transição entre savanas, cerrados e florestas, é a região em que teria ocorrido a domesticação de importantes cultivares indígenas (como a mandioca e a pupunha), e foi caracterizado como um dos locais de avanço do Período Formativo no passado. Através de uma análise diacrônica dos macro-vestígios vegetais presentes no sambaqui Monte Castelo entre as ocupações dos estratos Sinimbu (cal 7.423 - 6.936 A.P. a cal. 4.987 - 4.566 A.P.) e Bacabal (cal. 4.628 - 3.982 a cal. 803 - 624 A.P.), buscamos avaliar estas mudanças socioeconômicas transcorridas entre o Holoceno Médio e Tardio. Caracterizamos uma assembleia botânica formada por espécies domesticadas, manejadas e silvestres, típicas de diferentes ambientes, que indicam uma prática conjunta e constante de cultivo, manejo e coleta, que pode ter sido modificada no Holoceno Tardio por conta de transformações sociais na bacia do Rio Guaporé. Em suma, acompanhamos a história dos cultivos, junto à história dos processos de mudanças e continuidades nos padrões de mobilidade humana, e de dispersão das espécies identificadas, permeando-nos por um debate crítico acerca dos conceitos de agricultura, domesticação, evolução e complexidade social. / In the last ten years, there has been a growing effort in Amazonian Archeology to rethink the social and economic changes in the long-term processes of indigenous peoples during the pre-colonial period. The Formative Period, coined to allocate such populations in an intermediate stage of evolution, has been deconstructed in favor of alternative perspectives on the forms of organization and interaction that reflect the weaving and constant re-weaving of Amerindian networks, based on cyclical historicities and counter-state policies that inhibit political centralization. In this context, several studies have contributed to the untying of the \"formative\" material traits, such as the emergence of sedentary life, domesticated plants, the production of utilitarian ceramics and a progressive process of intensification of agricultural productivity. There is a gradual change in the environmental factor, from the trigger of human adaptation to the product of social choices in the formation of anthropic forests and the creation of a biodiversity of useful plants. The critique of agricultural determinism and the presence of staple foods is combined with a growing investment in the understanding of the coexistence between domesticated and wild species and the existence of contexts of abandonment of domesticated species (such as corn), and open space for us to rethink the role of cultivation in the Ancient Amazon. In this scenario, the present research had the objective of gathering and producing archeobotanical data that allowed an evaluation of the model of agricultural intensification and the construction of anthropogenic forests. The Amazon Southwest, marked by a transition between savannas and forests, is the region in which the domestication of important indigenous cultivars (such as cassava and peach palm) would have occurred, and was characterized as one of the places of advancement of the Formative Period in the past. Through a diachronic analysis of plant macro-remains present in sambaqui Monte Castelo between the occupations of Sinimbu strata (cal 7423-6936 AP to cal 4987 - 4566 PA) and Bacabal (cal 4628 - 3982 to cal 803 - 624 AP ), we sought to evaluate these socioeconomic changes between the Middle and Late Holocene. We characterized a botanical assembly formed by domesticated, managed and wild species, typical of different environments, indicating a joint and constant practice of cultivation, management and collection that may have been modified in the Late Holocene due to social transformations in the Guaporé River basin. In short, we follow the history of crops, together with the history of the processes of changes and continuities in the patterns of human mobility, and of dispersion of the identified species, permeating us by a critical debate about the concepts of agriculture, domestication, evolution and social complexity.

The highly fertile Amazonian Dark Earths (ADE) results from landscape transformations found in association with archaeological sites throughout Amazonia. In the Lower Tapajos region, ADEs are found in ancient Tapajó settlements dated to the Late Pre-Columbian period (AD 1000-1600). This research focuses on plant management associated with the regional formation of ADE. Three ADE sites are analysed for microbotanical remains. Phytolith and microcharcoal (< 125μm) from test pits and excavation profiles reveal diverse plant-use including food and non-food plants. Geochemical data indicated a variety of formations processes intra-site. The inter-site comparison indicated a gradiente of vegetation change related with the formation of ADEs. Aditionally, small changes folloed the adoption of cultigens together with ADE formation. These data suggest the practice of polyculture agroforestry in the investigated sites.

ikiztepe is the largest excavated mound type settlement of prehistoric times in the Black Sea region in Turkey. It is located ca. 55 km northwest of Samsun, 7 km northwest of Bafra and is within the boundary of the present day village of Ikiztepe. The carbonised seeds and fruits secured from the occupation levels of ikiztepe houses dating from Chalcolithic to the Transition period are used to identify the crop processing activities conducted within the domestic units. Areas of fine sieving activity and the storage areas could be detected by the help of the analysis of the archaeobotanical materials. A comparison of the crop processing habits of the occupants of ikiztepe and other Early Bronze Age settlements in Anatolia is also made.

1 Abstract Plant macro remains from archaeological situations were studied in order to trace the history of gradual formation of today's synanthropic vegetation. Synanthropic plants represent a heterogeneous group of species with various qualities and strategies, as well as with various immigration histories. In general, the synanthropic flora is rich in aliens, so it is important to know, when exactly these species immigrated to our territory (to know their residence time). Besides the determination of the residence time of alien plants, also the dynamics of formation of urban flora and vegetation was studied. Special attention was paid to the Medieval Period, when the urbanisation process started. The emergence of urban agglomeration may have been the cause of the emergence of new habitats, followed by formation of new plant associations - the predecessors of the today's ones. In general, towns represent a special case of anthropogenic environment with many various synanthropic habitats, causing their species richness. Questions 1. When exactly the synanthropic flora of medieval towns emerged? Was the transition from the Prehistory to the Medieval Period rather gradual or sudden? 2. What particular species took place in the medieval change of synanthropic vegetation? Where did these species come from? Was...

No description available.

Food is the foundation upon which societies are built. It is a means of survival, a source of wealth and prosperity and can be used as a means of social display. In Iron Age Atlantic Scotland, a wide range of food resources were open to exploitation. Among these, barley is likely to have been an important backbone to the system. Far from being at the mercy of the elements, the Iron Age population of Atlantic Scotland was able to extract surpluses of food from the landscape which could be manipulated for social, political and economic gain. One means through which this could be achieved is feasting, a practice considered significant elsewhere in the Iron Age. With such ideas at its core, this thesis examines the main arenas for consumption events in Iron Age Atlantic Scotland (dwellings) in detail, considering also the underpinnings of the system in terms of food production and accumulation, in particular the barley crop. The distribution of food processing and preparation between a dwelling and its associated ancillary buildings at Old Scatness provides insights into the organisation of life on the settlement.

No description available.

No description available.