Krystyna Wasylikowa

LATE QUATERNARY PLANT MACROFOSSILS FROM LAKE ZERIBAR, WESTERN IRAN

Abstract The study of plant macrofossils in sediment cores from Lake Zeribar provided information about changes in the local lake and marsh vegetation and about oscillations of the water table during the last 22,500 years. Between 22,500 and 14,000 years ago the lake was rather deep. During the time from 14,000 to 6,000 B.P. the water level fluctuated considerably as is suggested by the abundance of seeds of Chenopodiaceae. After 6,000 years ago the water level was more stable, and a sedge mat developed around the lake.

Image and statistical analyses of early sorghum remains (8000 B.P.) from the Nabta Playa archaeological site in the Western Desert, southern Egypt

Carbonized grains of sorghum, with consistent radiocarbon dates of ca. 8000 B.P., have been excavated at an early Holocene archaeological site (E-75-6) in Nabta Playa near the Egyptian-Sudanese border. The objective of the investigations reported here was to classify these early sorghum grains within the known wild or domesticated races or working groups of sorghum through the use of image-analysis procedures. Image-analysis is a non-destructive analytical method that can provide rapid, repeatable, and accurate measurements of ancient cereal grains. Measurements were taken on samples representing the five major domesticated sorghum races, eight wild relatives, and samples from the Nabta Playa and Jebel et Tomat excavation sites. Statistical and clustering techniques indicated significant differences existed among the sorghums with respect to the various measurements made. Sorghum from Nabta Playa was significantly smaller, with respect to most measurements, than either the wild relatives or the five cultivated sorghums. Smaller grain size and the lack of any spikelets containing attached branchlets of the inflorescence or rachis fragments suggest that the material harvested and eaten at the Nabta Playa site were of a wild type.

Sorghum in the Economy of the Early Neolithic Nomadic Tribes at Nabta Playa, Southern Egypt

The 8000 years old early neolithic site E-75-6 at Nabta Playa, southern Egypt, yielded charred plant remains of over 120 taxa. Several species of edible plants were recovered, many of which are still gathered for food in the Sahara today. The in-site distribution of plant remains indicated the use of four different sets of plants by people living in various huts and pits, which may relate to the dominance of these plants in the local vegetation stands. The distribution of sorghum differed from that of the other edible plants, probably reflecting its special significance for the inhabitants of the site. The sorghum grains were morphologically wild, and could have been collected from natural stands, or irregularly cultivated with the decrue technique. This early cultivation did not lead to domestication, but provides early evidence for the human skill of cultivating such useful plants.

Exploitation of wild plants by the early Neolithic hunter–gatherers of the Western Desert, Egypt: Nabta Playa as a case-study

The role of plants in the subsistence economy of pre-agricultural societies of the eastern Sahara is poorly known because vegetal remains, except for wood charcoal, are seldom found in archaeological sites. Site E-75-6 at Nabta Playa, with rich assemblages of charred seeds and fruits, is exceptional. Around 8000 b.p. the inhabitants of this site collected a wide spectrum of wild food plants. Wild sorghum was of special interest and its occasional cultivation cannot be excluded.

Plant macrofossils from the site of Tell Arbid, Northeast Syria(3rd–2nd millennium BC). Preliminary report

The paper presents preliminary results of an analysis of 51 samples of plant macrofossils coming from various archaeological contexts from the site of Tell Arbid in Northeast Syria. The contexts were dated mainly to the 3rd millennium BC (EJI–EJV) with a few being of 2nd millennium BC date (Khabur Ware and Mitanni periods). Cultivated plants were represented by cereals and pulses. The cultivation of at least three cereal species is documented, including a hulled variety of two-rowed barley, glumed einkorn and/or emmer wheat, and a species of naked wheat, probably macaroni wheat. Vegetables included lentil, bitter vetch, grass pea, and garden pea. Plants from the Ninevite 5 period (EJI–EJII) and their significance in the Tell Arbid economy are discussed in greater detail owing to the highest number of samples studied.