No abstract

This paper presents the results from archaeobotanical remains collected from ten medieval settlements and fort sites in the region of present-day Slavonia, Croatia. From the 12th century ad, Slavonia was part of the Kingdom of Hungary, although the region benefited from a certain amount of autonomy. Examining the archaeobotanical data from this period shows a diverse agricultural system, where crop fields, gardens, orchards, pastures and woodlands were all used to produce a range of cereals, fruits, nuts, vegetables and herbs, as well as fibre plants. The dataset is dominated by cereal remains, especially Triticum aestivum/durum (free-threshing wheat), Panicum miliaceum (broomcorn millet) and Secale cereale (rye). Vitis vinifera (grape pips) were the most common fruit recovered, which corresponds with the presence of vineyards and international trade in wine noted in the literature by the late Middle Ages. Also of significance was the recovery of Cannabis sativa (hemp) and Linum usitatissimum (flax), which suggest local cultivation, possibly for linen and hemp fibres, for oil or for medicinal purposes.

Archaeobotanical investigations of medieval sites in the Balkans are still not being undertaken often enough, and this study represents a small insight into the economic activity related to food consumption of one house in the medieval town of Braničevo. Three archaeobotanical samples from House 4 in Mali Grad -the site of Todića Crkva in the town of Braničevo were collected during excavation campaigns in 2008 and 2011. The material was analysed and, as a result, showed a clean sample structure containing 333 findings of broad bean (Vicia faba), 2 seeds of pea (Pisum sativum), and 37 fruits of Mongolian cherry (Prunus fruticosa). Only a few cereals were present in the assemblage: one seed of rye (Secale cereale), two possible findings of millet (cf. Panicum miliaceum), and two probable seeds of barley (cf. Hordeum vulgare). Archaeobotanical findings from Braničevo are raising new questions in investigations of the site's economy and represent a part of the data collection process that will hopefully continue to grow when it comes to archaeobotanical investigations of the medieval sites in the Balkans.