Archaeobotany data on Chalcolithic settlement of Borduşani Popină
(Danube River Valley, Romania)
Results and discussion
Archaeocarpological material from cultural sediments (excluding walls of buildings
and other structures)
Seed material recovered from the site can be grouped in the following categories
according to the ways they appeared in the sediments:
a) Remnants and processing residues of food products derived from cultivated plants.
- Charred and exceptionally mineralized grains of cereals and seeds of pulses: cultivated
cereals (Triticeae gen. spp.), wheats (Triticum sp.), hulled wheats, tetra- or hexaploid wheat
(T. aestivum/durum), common bread wheat (T. cf. aestivum), spelta wheat (T. cf. spelta),
emmer (T. dicoccum), emmer or einkorn (T. monococcum/dicoccum), einkorn (T.
monococcum), barley (Hordeum vulgare), naked barley (H. vulgare var. nudum), naked sixrowed barley (H. vulgare ssp. vulgare convar. coeleste), hulled barley, hulled six-rowed
barley (H. vulgare ssp. vulgare convar. vulgare), large seeded unidentified pulses (Viceae
gen. spp.), vetch (cf. Vicia sp.), small-seeded lentil (Lens culinaris ssp. microsperma), bitter
vetch (Vicia ervilia), pea or vetch (Pisum/Vicia sp.), common pea (Pisum sativum), grass pea
(Lathyrus sativa) (Table 1).
b) Residues of threshing waste of cultivated plants.
- Mostly charred internodes, spikelet bases, triplet bases, rachis remains, glumes and other
parts of cereals spikes, impressions of pods of pulses: taxonomical composition for cereals
mostly repeats the list above, and for case of pulses (lentil) threshing residues are found only
as impressions in building clay.
c) Remnants of food products derived from gathered plants.
- Mineralized and charred seeds: Sambucus cf. nigra, Rubus cf. fruticosus, charred
nutstones: Prunus cf. institia, mineralized pips: Vitis vinifera/sylvestris, charred seeds:
Quercus sp.1, Quercus sp.2, charred nuts: cf. Trapa sp.
d) Seeds of segetal weeds, which infested the above mentioned cultivated plants.
- Biomineralized nutlets of boraginaceous plants (Buglossoides arvensis, Lithospermum
officinale, Asperugo procumbens), charred grains and awns of poaceous plants (Poaceae gen.
spp. (minimum 2 species grouped in “long grains” and “short grains”), cf. Bromus sp.),
mineralized hulled grains of Setaria cf. viridis, Trifolium type small charred and uncharred
seeds from Fabaceae family, mostly charred, sometimes desiccated or mineralized nutlets of
polygonaceous plants (Polygonaceae gen. spp., Polygonum sp., P. cf. aviculare, P.
convolvulus, cf. Rumex sp.), seeds of chenopods and amaranths (Chenopodium sp.,
Chenopodiaceae gen. sp. (larger seeds), Amaranthus sp.), charred mericarps of Galium cf.
spurium, charred nutlets of Convolvulus sp., mineralized nutlets of Lamiaceae gen. spp.,
mineralized mericarp Apiaceae gen. sp., uncharred and mineralized seeds of cruciferous
plants (Brassicaceae gen. spp.).
e) Seeds of ruderal weeds, which grown around and on the site.
Theoretically all wild grassy plants could grow as ruderals. The most probable
candidates are Cichorideae gen. sp., Hyoscyamus sp., H. niger, Abutilon theophrasti.
f) Seeds from dung of domestic animals.
- Here again, theoretically all grassy (and not only) plants can partly come as a dung. The
most probable candidates are more eroded and sometimes uncharred or mineralized seeds of
Poaceae gen. spp., Setaria cf. viridis, Fabaceae gen. sp. (small seeds), Polygonaceae gen. spp.,
Polygonum sp., P. aviculare, P. ambiguum, P. convolvulus, Rumex sp., Chenopodium sp.,
Amaranthus sp., Lamiaceae gen. spp., Brassicaceae gen. sp., all Cyperaceae gen. spp. (Carex
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spp., Bolboschoenus/Schoenoplectus/Scirpus sp.), as well as unidentified seeds, which are
extremely eroded.
g) Seeds of waterland plants, which come to the site possibly with building material and
fishing nets.
charred and uncharred seeds of Carex species and cf. Scirpus sp., as well as mineralized
spiny nutlet of Ceratophyllum demersum.
Plant impressions in building clay
All fragments of building clay analysed (SL 56), were containing imprints of cereals
chaff while the chaff itself was almost completely oxidized. The chaff in building clay was
accompanied with straw again from cultivated cereals almost for all of the cases. In the same
time some thinner (~1/2 mm in diameter) straw was observed in some fragments, which can
come from wild grasses. Chaff of cultivated plants predominating in the building clay
composed mostly from that of einkorn (Triticum monococcum) and naked barley (Hordeum
vulgare var. nudum). Often clearly identifiable spikelets of einkorn and triplets of naked
barley are possible to record inside of fragmented building clay. For case of barley only tworowed subspecies was recorded until now. Spikelets of wheat and triplets of barley sometimes
contain remains of grains as well as chaff itself, but with few exceptions this material is very
unstable and being oxidized within few minutes after contact with air. Charred remnants of
grains and seeds preserved and are more stable when the clay was burnt right after preparation
of building material. In exceptional cases lentil trashing residues as well were added to clay of
building mud. For other cases lentil appears in building material only occasionally. Situation
with lentil pods and grains is similar with that of cereals: pods itself are not preserved or are
unstable and there are charred and stable seeds in some cases.
One other group of plant objects in the building material are stems and leaves of
waterland plants. It is extremely difficult or even impossible to do certain identifications
based on vegetal parts of these monocotyledon plants with parallel leaf veins: some of the
impressions were identified as Phragmites (the most common species is Phragmites australis)
and the others as Typha sp. (various species of Typha grow in environs of the site at present).
In addition to the above-mentioned there were impressions of some deciduous
dicotyledonous plants leaves and one capsule valve of Alyssum sp. (Brassicaceae) recorded.
The last one is particularly interesting as species of Alyssum generally prefer dry and open
territories and their vegetation season starts comparably early in spring (winter, if no snow
and it is warm) and ends early (started from the beginning of the summer).
Study of plant remains, particularly impressions in the building clay is very important as
many plants or certain parts of the plants are too tiny and fragile to survive carbonization or
mineralization, and then resist physical erosion by surrounding sediments for millennia. For
example, remains of pulses pods, capsules of crucifers, leaves in general almost never are
being found in archaeological deposits. And if only plant remains from flotation and sieving
examined, there can be false image about assemblage of plants or their certain parts for that
particular site.
The presence of cereals chaff, straw and thrashing residues of lentil in the building mud
is great evidence of local cultivation of those plants.
Conclusions
Gumelniţa population of Borduşani Popină practiced agriculture based on cereals and
pulses cultivation. Cultivated lands were not far from the settlement. The main direction of
the agriculture was cereals production, mostly based on einkorn and naked barley. Pulses
cultivation, based mostly on production of bitter vetch and lentil, was smaller scale, but
important direction in their agriculture. Except naked barley, the rest of the main crops
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cultivated near the settlement (einkorn, emmer, bitter vetch and lentil) are better adapted for
dryer conditions, while the other crops from the site, cultivated in lesser scales (e.g. bread
wheat, pea), need more water during their vegetation period. This bias can be caused by
agricultural and economical traditions, but there is a possibility that it was obliged by
environmental conditions.
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