Hans-Peter Stika

Traces of a possible Celtic brewery in Eberdingen-Hochdorf, Kreis Ludwigsburg, southwest Germany

A large number of weakly germinated hulled barley grains was found during archaeobotanical analyses from the early Celtic settlement excavations at Eberdingen-Hochdorf in southwest Germany (ca. 600 – 400 BC). These grains seem to represent deliberate germination, due to the purity of the find and its unusual archaeological context. The possibility of deliberate malting which could be connected with beer brewing is discussed. Recent germination and charring experiments show that the consistently weak traces of germination on the charred subfossil grains from Hochdorf are enough to indicate malted grains. A comparison of the archaeobotanical remains with the written and archaeological sources shows that evidence of beer brewing from excavations is very scarce. There is practically no clear proof of brewing, while written sources and indirect suggestions are abundant. Neither archaeological finds nor either written or iconographic sources give exact details about the prehistoric brewing technology of the early Celts. The archaeological finds from Hochdorf seem to be the result of deliberate malting of hulled barley for the purpose of Celtic beer brewing.

Approaches to reconstruction of early Celtic land-use in the cent ral Neckar region in southwestern Germany

In four early Celtic settlements in the central Neckar region of Baden-Württemberg (Germany), 250 archaeobotanical samples were collected and studied for their plant macrofossils.Hordeum vulgare L. (hulled barley) andTrilicum spella L. (spelt wheat) could be recognized as the main crops, as well asPanicum miliaceum L. (millet) in some places. Legumes andLinum usitatissimum L. (flax) were important crops. Typical field weeds dominated the wild plant remains, but some present-day grassland taxa were abundantly and frequently found. The analysis of the data set of finds of the cereal remains, field weeds and grassland plants was done by Correspondence Analysis, but no significant differences between the various groups were found. Samples dominated by remains of grassland taxa, which could indicate that there were hay meadows, were absent. Consideration of plant macrofossil results as well as archaeological, osteological and pollen analytical data shows that there is likely to have been a land management system of arable fields and grassland. The densely settled fertile central Neckar region could therefore have been intensively utilised, using all available resources. Permanent grasslands in the form of pasture on river floodplains and on dry soils were certainly present. Hay meadows, on the other hand, were not identified. Cultivated plants such asFicus carica L. (fig) andVicia ervilia (L.) Willd. (bitter vetch) as well as some field weeds suggest connections with the Mediterranean lands.

State of the (t)art. Analytical approaches in the investigation of components and production traits of archaeological bread-like objects, applied to two finds from the Neolithic lakeshore settlement Parkhaus Opéra (Zürich, Switzerland)

The site of Parkhaus Opéra is located on the north-eastern shore of Lake Zürich (Switzerland) and was documented during a rescue excavation in 2010 and 2011 by the Office for Urbanism, City of Zürich. Two charred bread-like objects were found in late Neolithic Layer 13 of the pile-dwelling, and are investigated using a novel set of analyses for cereal-based foodstuffs. Tissue remains of barley and wheat were identified, as well as a schizocarp of celery (cf. Apium graveolens), providing the first evidence for the use of bread condiments in the Neolithic. Cereal particle sizes were recorded and used to draw conclusions regarding milling and sieving of the raw material. Gas bubbles in the charred objects were measured in order to evaluate possible leavening of the dough. The outcomes of this research significantly advance the understanding of the production traits of cereal-based food during the Neolithic. The analytical techniques proposed by this study open up new possibilities for systematic and consistent investigations of cereal-based archaeological foodstuffs.

Cultivated plant remains of the late Neolithic Michelsberg Culture at Heilbronn-Klingenberg (southwest Germany) - a comparison of different features, find assemblages and preservation conditions relating to the representation of archaeobotanical remains

A large area investigation was undertaken of the plant remains from a Michelsberg Culture (late Neolithic) settlement. The charred macroscopic remains and imprints in pieces of daub were expected to show both the spectrum of the cultivated plants there, and also the degree of their cultivation and use. The loess covered hill-top lies in a landscape with favourable climatic and soil conditions and is blocked off by two parallel ditches running in an arc. Ditches and pits filled with different sediments were investigated. The daub, unearthed in several pits, had been deliberately mixed with chaff of the glume wheats einkorn and emmer to temper it when it was originally made. The investigated imprints and charred plant remains give hints of spatial distribution of crop processing activities. To determine the amounts of the crops that were cultivated and used, it is necessary to study the charred remains. The degree of ubiquity (frequency of occurrence) of grains in the pit sediments seems to be the best indicator of the representation of cereals. Four main cereals were found: Triticum monococcum, T. dicoccum, T. aestivum/T. durum and Hordeum vulgare var. nudum. Pisum sativum also was an important cultivated plant, much more than Lens culinaris. The role of Linum usitatissimum and Papaver somniferum is less clear.

The PLANTCULT Project: identifying the plant food cultures of ancient Europe

Plant foods are closely connected to cultural, social and economic aspects of human societies, both past and present. Food-preparation techniques and the etiquette of consumption involve complex interactions of natural resources and human cultures. During European prehistory, these changes included the shift to sedentism, the cultivation and domestication of plants, food storage, the production and exchange of alcoholic beverages and luxury foodstuffs, and the continuous adaptation of established culinary practices to newcomers in fields and gardens.

Erratum to: Plant remains from Roman period town of Obulco (today Porcuna) in Andalusia (Spain)—distribution and domestication of olive in the west Mediterranean region

The original version of this article, unfortunately, contained error. Unfortunately an uncorrected version was used for the online publication. Please accept my apologies for some mistakes in the lists concerning layout and misspelling. Additionally there occured problems with the figures. The scientific name of olive is Olea europaea and that of chickpea is Cicer arietinum. The authors name is Buxó i Capdevila R (1997) concerning citation in text and references.

Früheisenzeitliche Met- und Biernachweise aus Süddeutschland

Bei spathallstattzeitlichen Ausgrabungen (7. – 5. Jh. v. Chr.) in Suddeutschland wurden mehrfach Hinweise auf Met ermittelt. Aus den Grosgrabhugeln von Eberdingen-Hochdorf, der Heuneburg bei Herbrechtingen-Hundersingen und dem Glauberg sowie aus einem Frauengrab aus Niedererlbach bei Landshut wurden Ruckstande in Bronzegefasen untersucht, die hohe Pollenkonzentrationen sowie Bienenwachs enthielten und auf eine rituelle Verwendung von Met bei Bestattungen hinweisen. In ungewohnlichen, geraden Grabenstrukturen der fruhlatenezeitlichen Siedlung von Eberdingen-Hochdorf, Gewann Reps, wurde eine grose Menge angekeimter Gerstenkorner gefunden. Wegen der grosen Reinheit und des gleichmasig schwachen Ankeimgrades kann das Malz nur von einer beabsichtigten Keimung stammen. Die archaologischen Strukturen, in denen die verkohlten Korner gefunden wurden, konnten sowohl zum Ankeimen als auch zum Darren des Malzes verwendet worden sein. Seine Herstellung hangt hochstwahrscheinlich mit dem Brauen von Bier zusammen. Ausgehend von den ausgegrabenen Bodenfunden und theoretischen Uberlegungen zum Bierbrauen in der fruhen Eisenzeit wird der Versuch unternommen, den Geschmack des Keltenbieres zu rekonstruieren.