Preliminary report on the botany of gomolava

Journal qf Archaeological

Science 1975,2, 3 15-325

Preliminary Report on the Botany of Gomolava W. van Zeist Institute for Biological Archaeology, University

qf Groningen

Tell Gomolava is situated on the southern edge of the Central-European Plain, near the town of Hrtkovci, c. 55 km west of Belgrade (Figure 1). The settlement was founded on the left bank of the Sava river. At present, the site is c. 230 m long, c. 60 m broad and c. 6 m high. Originally the tell was broader, but a part of it has been eroded by the Sava river. Since 1965, large-scale excavations are being carried out by the Vojvodjanski Muzej at Novi Sad under the direction of Drs B. Brukner, B. Jovanovic and N. Tasic (Brukner, 1971; Jovanovid, 1965, 1971).

Figure 1. Gomolava is located on the southern edge of the Central-European Plain, which includes the Pannonian Plain, the Great Hungarian Plain and Vojvodina. Stippled areas are over 200 m a.s.1. 315

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The site has been inhabited during various periods, albeit with interruptions. Pottery sherds point to the presence of the StarEevo culture, but settlement remains of this culture have not been met with at Gomolava. The earliest habitation level is attributed to the late VinCa-TordoS/early VinEa-PloCnik phase (Brukner, 1973). In the VinEaPloCnik C culture deposits, which reach a thickness of c. 2 m, remains of house floors of burnt clay are frequently found. Moreover, in the subsoil underneath the culture deposits rows of post-holes came to light, indicating that the VinCa-PloEnik houses were up to 7 m wide and more than 16 m long (Dr Brukner, personal communication). The VinEa-PloEnik C levels are sealed off by a VinEa-PloEnik C/D horizon but the VinEaPloEnik D culture is not represented. For the cultures mentioned above the reader is referred to Tringham (1971). Table 1. Distribution of crop plant species in Tell Gomolava

Number of samples Triticum monococcum Triticum dicoccum Triticum aestivum Triticum spelta Hordeum vulgare Hora’eum vulgare var. nudum Panicum miliaceum Avena fatualsativa Secale cereale Pisum sativum Lens culinaris Vicia ervilia Vicia faba var. minor Linum (usitatissimum)

26

11

12

+++

+++ + +

+++ ++

+++

r

++*+

++++

++

+++ +

+-;+

::

r

5 +

: +

-T-

;

r r

4

34

-t-k+ +++ + +-i? +‘+ -L +‘+ 4 r

r

r

r

+

+

r r

r = rare; + = little; + + = moderate; + + + = much.

Early as well as late Eneolithic cultures could be established for Gomolava. Of the Eneolithic cultures, the Kostolac group is best represented. Hallstatt and La T&e habitation is attested by fairly thick culture deposits. During the La T&e period the site was surrounded by a ditch and a wall. Habitation continued in the early centuries AD (Roman-provincial period). In the upper layers, building remains and a cemetery of the 12th to 14th centuries AD were unearthed. During the campaigns of 1967, 1968, 1970 and 1971, samples of charred seeds and charcoal were taken by the excavators. The carbonized plant remains were collected when they were observed in some quantities, e.g. charred seeds in the fill of a storage pit. In the last 10 to 15 years it has been demonstrated convincingly that carbonized seeds and charcoal often occur dispersed in occupation layers and invisible to the naked eye. Such carbonized material can be recovered by flotation of large samples of cultural fill

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(cf. Helbaek, 1969; Jarman et al., 1972). A simple water separation method was applied at Gomolava by the present author and his colleague Dr S. Bottema during the 1972. 1973 and 1974 field seasons. Nearly every sample, to a volume of 20,000 to 50,000 cc, yielded charred seeds and fruits in smaller or larger numbers. The recovery of the carbonized material was not 100 %, but it may have been as much as 90-95 “/‘,, which is quite satisfactory. In addition to the flotation samples, concentrations of charred seeds and larger pieces of charcoal were secured when they came to light.

0

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5mm ,

Figure2. Triticum monococcum (einkornwheat).La The.

So far only very few data on prehistoric food plants have been published for the Yugoslavian part of the Central-European Plain (Renfrew, 1973, pp. 203-4). For that reason it seems justified to publish a short note on the plant remains from Gomolova, although the botanical examination is still in its initial stage. In this connection it should be mentioned that the final publication of the botanical results cannot be expected in the near future, in particular because the excavation of the site has not yet been completed. As the only objective of this report is to give information on the plant husbandry of Gomolava available at an early date, comparisons with other sites will hardly be made. Table 1 shows the proportions of the various crop plants in the archaeological periods for which satisfactory numbers of charred seed samples are available. The combined

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abundance/frequency indications (much, moderate, little, rare) are based upon the estimated share of the species in each of the samples from the period concerned. It is striking that einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum) was a major crop plant during all the periods of habitation represented in Table 1. Einkorn grains (Figure 2) can easily be distinguished from those of the other wheat species by the characteristic shape: the fruits are laterally compressed, while the ventral as well as the dorsal side are longitudinally curved. The available evidence suggests that only in VinCa-PloCnik C and Kostolac times did emmer wheat (Triricum dicoccum) play a fairly important part in the Gomolava plant husbandry (Figure 3). The continuous predominance of einkorn wheat over emmer wheat has not been reported for other parts of Central and Southeastern Europe, so that this may have been a peculiarity of the Gomolava area. In addition to the grains, spikelet forks and glume bases of both Triticum species were also found.

Figure 3. Triticum dicoccum (emmer wheat). VinbPloEnik

C.

Triticum spelta, another hulled wheat species, is represented in one Hallstatt and in one La T&e sample. The grains of Triticum spelta, which are very variable in shape, are sometimes difficult to distinguish from those of Triticum aestivum. Moreover, spelt grains occur which show resemblance to those of emmer wheat. Fortunately, the sturdy spikelet forks and glume bases of spelt, which were also found in the samples concerned, can easily be distinguished from those of the other wheat species. Consequently,. there

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can be no doubt that in Hallstatt and La T&e times, Triticum spelta was one of the crop plants that were cultivated by the inhabitants of Gomolava.

0

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5mm ,

Figure 4. Triticum aestivum (bread wheat). La Tkne.

Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) must have been a common crop plant in the La Terre period while it was also cultivated by the Hallstatt inhabitants of the site. Moreover, a few grains of this wheat species were observed in one Kostolac sample, while an occasional bread wheat-like grain was found in VinEa-PloCnik samples. In contrast to einkorn and emmer wheat, Triticum aestivum is a so-called free-threshing wheat; in the mature ears, the grains are loosely enclosed by the glumes. Triticum aestivum grains (Figure 4) are plumper than those of emmer wheat and the dorsal side is more rounded in crosssection. In addition to Triticum species, Hordeum vulgare (hulled six-row barley) was grown by the Gomolava farmers, although in VinCa-PloEnik times this crop plant was seemingly of less importance than in later periods. The grains of hulled barley are angular in cross-section, while longitudinal ridges can be observed on the surface of the kernels (Figure 5). Most interesting is the presence of naked barley (Hordeum vulgare var. rzudum) in one Kostolac sample. In naked barley, the seeds are loose in the spikelets; it is a freethreshing cereal, just as bread wheat. The grains of naked barlev are rounded in crosssection; they show no longitudinal ridges. A characteristic feature of naked barley is a

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fine transverse wrinkling on the surface of the grain (Figure 6). The Kostolac sample concerned consists of a mixture of hulled and naked barley and was taken from just above what could have been the bottom of a basket. Because of the interruptions in the habitation of Gomolava, it cannot be established whether naked barley was introduced in the area by the Kostolac people or whether it was already grown here at an earlier stage. Neither does the Gomolava evidence provide a clue when the cultivation of naked barley was abandoned. In any case, this crop plant, which has played a very important part in the plant husbandry of prehistoric Europe, is absent in the Hallstatt samples from Gomolava.

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Figure 5. Hordeum vuZgare (hulled six-row barley). Kostolac.

Another cereal crop plant of the Gomolava farmers was Punicum miliuceum (millet). Although the small millet seeds (Figure 7) are regularly found in VinEa-PloZnik samples, it seems that it was not until later, in Hallstatt and La TBne times, that this species became a major crop plant at Gomolava. Table 1 indicates that charred grains of Avena (oats) are sparsely present in VinEaPloEnik, Kostolac and Hallstatt samples, suggesting that the wild species, Avenafatua, is concerned here. Wild oat is a weed in fields. In a few La Terre samples larger numbers

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of oat grains (Figure 8) occur, from which it is justified to conclude to the cultivation of Avena sativa by the inhabitants of the site. The late introduction of domesticated oat in the Gomolava area is in agreement with the evidence for Central Europe, where distinct indications for the cultivation of Avena sativa are not older than c. 800 BC. A small number of rye grains (Se&e cereale) was found in one La Terre sample. This does not necessarily indicate that rye was grown intentionally. It may have occurred as an admixture in the grain fields. On the other hand, palaeobotanical evidence suggests that in the La T&e period, the cultivation of Secale cereale, which reached Europe as a weed in fields, had started in Central Europe.

0

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Figure 6. Hordeum vulgare var. nudum (naked six-row barley). Kostolac.

At Gomolava the demand for carbohydrates was covered by the cereal species discussed above. Vegetable protein was provided by the leguminous crop plants: Lens culinaris (lentil), Pisum sativum (pea), Vicia ervilia (bitter vetch) and Vicia faba var. mirier (Celtic bean). It is difficult to estimate the role of the pulses in the diet of the inhabitants of the site, It seems that pulses are often under-represented in charred seed samples, which may account for the usually small numbers in which they are found. Of the leguminous

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crop plants which could be demonstrated for Gomolava, lentil, pea and bitter vetch belong to the species which were already grown by early-Neolithic farmers in the Near East. These crop plants must have reached the Gomolava area from the southeast, together with wheat and barley.

0

,

I

3mm

Figure I. Panicum miliaceum (millet). Ia The.

Viciu faba var. minor, a few seeds of which are shown in Figure 9, did not appear in Central Europe until the beginning of the Bronze Age (Schultze-Motel, 1972). Consequently, the fact that Celtic bean was not found in Kostolac and older layers is according to expectation. This species must have arrived in the Gomolava area from the north or northeast and not from the southeast. Somewhat puzzling is the occurrence of a few Linum seeds in a VinEa-PloEnik C sample. The size of these seeds is c. 2.9 x l-4 mm, which corresponds with that of carbonized seeds of Linum usitatissimum from Eneolithic Niederwil, in northeastern Switzerland, for which an average length and breadth of 2.83 and 1.48 mm, respectively, were established by the present author. This would indicate that the Gomolava seeds are of cultivated flax. On the other hand the following should be taken into consideration. Assuming a shrinkage in length of 13% through carbonization (cf. Helbaek, 1972; van Zeist & Bakker-Heeres, 1975), the original size of the Gomolava seeds should have amounted to c. 3.3 mm. For Linum perenne and L. austriacum, two wild flax species which may be expected in the Gomolava area, a maximum seed size of 3.5 mm is reported (Brouwer & Stahlin, 1955). For that reason, it cannot be ruled out that the Gomolava linseeds are of one of these wild Linum species, particularly because a few seeds of this type were found in only one sample. Be this as it may, linseed was hardly grown or collected wild. In this connection it should yet be pointed out that two other crop plant

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OF GOMOLAVA

species with oleaginous

seeds, viz. Papaver somniferum (opium poppy) and Camelina are not represented at all in Gomolava. It is clear that for their fat demand the inhabitants of the site depended on animals.

sativa (gold-of-pleasure),

0

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5mm ,

Figure 8. Avena sutivu(cultivated oat). La The.

In addition to the crop plants listed in Table 1, various wild plant species are represented in the Gomolava samples, be it usually by small numbers of seeds. Thus, seeds of field weeds, such as Agrostemma githago (corn cockle), Polygonurn convolvul~~ (black bindweed) and Galium (cleavers), could be demonstrated. Also wild fruits are found. From below an oven attributed to Vinea-PloEnik C, about 20 carbonized wild apples and a fairly large number of apple fragments were recovered. The size of the apples varies from 16 to 21 mm. Other fruits from the woods collected at least during VinEaPloEnik times, include Cornus mas (Cornelian cherry), Fragaria vesca (wild strawberry) and Vitis vinzzifera(wild grape). Today the fruits of Cornus mas are still collected in order to make marmalade, juice and compote. Wild grape is common in the riverine forests along the Sava river, at a short distance from the site.

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,5mm

Figure 9. Viciu faba var. minor (Celtic bean). La The.

References Brouwer, W. & Stahlin, A. (1955).Hundbuch der Samenkunde. Frankfurt am Main: DLG-Verlag. Brukner, B. (1971).Gomolava a Hrtkovci, site prehistoriquea plusieurscouches.In (G. Novak, Ed.) Epoque prkhistorique et protohistorique en Yougoslavie. Recherches et r&dtats. Beograd: Sock% archeologiquede Yougoslavie, pp. 175-176. Brukner, B. (1973).Die Stratigraphie von Gomolava. Ein Vorschlag zur Bestimmungder relativen Chronologiean dem Ubergangvom Endneolithikum zum Aneolithikum im Stidostpannonien.Actes du VZZZe Congres International des Scienc& Prc?historiques et Protohistoriques. Vol. 2, Beograd,pp. 317-324. Helbaek, H. (1969).Plant collecting, dry-farming and irrigation agriculture in Prehistoric Deh Luran. In (F. Hole, K. V. Flannery 8c J. A. Neely) Prehistory and Human Ecology of the Deh Luran Plain. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Number 1. Ann Arbor, pp. 383-426. Helbaek, H. (1972). Samarranirrigation agriculture at Choga Mami in Iraq. Zruq 34, 3548. Jarman, H. N., Legge,A. J. & Charles,J. A. (1972).Retrieval of plant remainsfrom archaeologicalsitesby froth flotation. In (E. S. Higgs,Ed.) Papers in Economic Prehistory. Cambridge: The University Press,pp. 394.

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Jovanovic, B. (1965). Gomolava-Excavations 196551966. Travaax des MusPes de Voivodina14, 113-135.(Serbo-Croatianwith Englishsummary.) Jovanovid, B. (1971). The stratigraphy of Gomolava at the excavations 1967-1971. Truvaux des Mu&es de Voivodina 20, 95-102. (Serbo-Croatianwith English summary.) Renfrew, J. M. ( 1973). Palaeoethnobotany. London: Methuen. Schultze-Motel, J. (1972).Die archHologischenResteder Ackerbohne, ViciaJbba L., und die Geneseder Art. Die Kulturpflanre 19, 321-358. Tringham, R. (I 97 1). Hunters, Fishers and Farmers of Easterrr Europe 6000-3000 BC. London: Hutchinson University Library. Van Zeist, W. & Bakker-Heeres,J. A. H. (1975).Evidencefor linseedcultivation before 6000 bc. Journal qf Archaeological Science 2, 2 I 5-2 19.