In general, the fifth millennium BCE in the Dutch wetlands and southern Scandinavia might be described in similar terms regarding the presence of ceramic hunter-gatherers who evidently had contacts... Show moreIn general, the fifth millennium BCE in the Dutch wetlands and southern Scandinavia might be described in similar terms regarding the presence of ceramic hunter-gatherers who evidently had contacts of some kind with central European farming communities. Whereas the end of this millennium saw a relatively swift transition to farming in southern Scandinavia, the Dutch wetlands seem to have taken a different route. Here, the dominant opinion is that of a gradual and earlier start of animal husbandry and cereal cultivation, albeit of a limited economic importance. This contribution will question the Dutch dataset and discuss new data on the use of ceramics and the date and scale of the start of animal husbandry and cereal cultivation. We conclude that the transition to farming (cereal cultivation and animal husbandry) occurred around 4200 BCE, predating the transition to farming in the UK and southern Scandinavia. Show less
Ilett, M.; Gransar, F.; Allard, P.; Bakels, C.C.; Hachem, L.; Hamon, C.; ... ; Naze, Y. 2022
A preventive excavation undertaken in 2006 in the Aisne valley at Menneville "La Bourguignotte" uncovered some Neolithic features near the edge of the area investigated. These include a longhouse... Show moreA preventive excavation undertaken in 2006 in the Aisne valley at Menneville "La Bourguignotte" uncovered some Neolithic features near the edge of the area investigated. These include a longhouse with its lateral pits, another long pit and two circular pits. Decorated ceramics date the occupation to the Seine basin final Linear Pottery. The flint industry, also typical of this period, is characterized by quite a broad range of raw materials. Sandstone artefacts were mainly used for polishing activities. Although faunal remains are mostly of domestic species, the proportion of wild animals in the assemblage is relatively high. Certain features also produced burnt daub, as well as carbonised plant remains, including cereals, legumes and hazel nut. The excavated features are probably part of a small settlement that was linked in some way to the large neighbouring site of Menneville "Derrière le Village". Show less
The foodways approach to archaeobotanical investigation is used in this dissertation for reconstructing lost and forgotten lifeways. In this research, microbotanical residues (starches) were... Show moreThe foodways approach to archaeobotanical investigation is used in this dissertation for reconstructing lost and forgotten lifeways. In this research, microbotanical residues (starches) were recovered from different types of presumed plant-related artifacts excavated in three geographic regions: the northwestern Dominican Republic, the Bahama archipelago, and central Nicaragua. Four case studies from five archaeological sites were examined. One case study contributes the first examination of limestone tools and the first certain identification of manioc (cassava) in the Bahama archipelago. Another case study provides additional evidence for the use of exogenous plants in the northern Caribbean and identifies certain plants that were pre-cooked before being processed further using bivalve shells.This dissertation paints a dynamically diverse picture of Indigenous Caribbean Peoples’ culinary practices. The results and discussions of human-plant adaptation strategies involved exogenous plant translocation. Each chapter demonstrates that culinary practices from these case study sites incorporated some poisonous plants into recipes to produce edible meals. Overall, this dissertation creates a more refined insight into how starchy culinary practices varied in the Greater Caribbean. Show less
Ciofalo, A.J.; Donner, N.R.; Hofman, C.L.; Geurds, A. 2020
Palaeoanthropologists have proposed that Neanderthals, the Middle Palaeolithic hominin occupant of Eurasia, differed from modern human relatives by having specialised diets focused on big game. A... Show morePalaeoanthropologists have proposed that Neanderthals, the Middle Palaeolithic hominin occupant of Eurasia, differed from modern human relatives by having specialised diets focused on big game. A narrow dietary niche at the top of the terrestrial food chain is inherently prone to instability, potentially contributing to extinction of the Neanderthals. However, limitations in detecting plant consumption imply that scientists are unaware of much of Neanderthal diet. My dissertation revises the role of plants in Neanderthal subsistence using dental calculus, a material that is recognised to contain food traces, as a source of dietary data. To do this I assessed how accurately calculus records diet, by testing it with a variety of techniques on a population of chimpanzees with decades of documented dietary history. Then, my dissertation examined if it is possible to explore the resilience of the Neanderthal dietary niche by assessing for changes in plant use over time. Comparing diets from different habitats, data suggests a broad range of diets on the Mediterranean rim and in the cooler areas of the Neanderthal range. Surprisingly, the study found no evidence of changes in plant dietary breadth despite variation in environments. This stability implies a deeply resilient ecological niche across their range. Show less
Sowing the seed? Human impact and plant subsistence in Dutch wetlands during the Late Mesolithic and Early and Middle Neolithic (5500-3400 cal BC). The understanding of the neolithisation process... Show moreSowing the seed? Human impact and plant subsistence in Dutch wetlands during the Late Mesolithic and Early and Middle Neolithic (5500-3400 cal BC). The understanding of the neolithisation process in the Netherlands has increased considerably during the last decades. A coherent overview of the archaeobotanical research on the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture was, however, lacking until now. This thesis aims to provide a better understanding of the neolithisation process in the Dutch wetlands by means of the reconstruction of the natural vegetation, human impact, plant use and cultivation practises at the time of the Late Mesolithic, the Swifterbant culture and the Hazendonk group. The study is a literature study based on the analysis of published and unpublished data on pollen, seeds and fruits, wood, charcoal and tubers from four wetland regions. The extensive botanical data sets of recently excavated sites have been combined and compared with evidence of earlier investigations, resulting in a coherent overview and new interpretations. The evidence from the Dutch wetlands has furthermore been compared with that of comparable cultural groups in Northwestern Europe. Show less
