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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.

The archaeobotanical record of 24 sites from the Neolithic period (5400-2300 cal BC) in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula is evaluated. Remarkable amounts of data have recently been obtained for the early and middle Neolithic phases. Most of the studied sites were dry and they only yielded charred plant material. Among dry sites, several types of context were evaluated: dwelling areas, hearths, roasting pits and byres. Material was also analysed from a waterlogged cultural layer of one early Neolithic lakeshore site, La Draga. Quercus sp. (acorns), Corylus avellana L. (hazelnuts), Pistacia lentiscus L. (mastic fruits) and Vitis vinifera L. var. sylvestris (wild grapes) were among the most frequently encountered fruits and seeds. Their presence in the archaeobotanical record clearly maps their past ecological distribution in the region. There are differences observed between the charred dryland material and the waterlogged uncharred material. Wild fruits were mostly present in an uncharred state in La Draga. Therefore, their consumption could go unnoticed in dry sites when fruits were eaten raw or without roasting. Larger amounts of charred remains of certain wild fruits like acorns and hazelnuts found in mountain areas are highlighted as potential evidence of the regular practice of roasting, potentially indicating regional traditions. All in all, our results support an intensive wild plant use at least during the first 1,300 years of the Neolithic period. Evidence of wild plant food consumption becomes scanty towards the second phase of the middle and the late Neolithic (4th and 3rd millennium cal BC). This, however, might also be due to taphonomic reasons.

29Apple is an iconic tree and major fruit crop worldwide. It is also a model species for the study of the 30 evolutionary processes and the genomic basis underlying the domestication of clonally propagated 31 perennial crops. Multidisciplinary evidence from across Eurasia has documented the pace and 32 process of cultivation of this remarkable crop. While population genetics and genomics have 33 revealed the overall domestication history of apple across Eurasia, untangling the evolutionary 34 processes involved, archeobotany has helped to document the transition from gathering and using 35 apples to the practice of cultivation. Further studies, integrating archeogenetics and -genomics 36 approaches, will definitively bring new insights about key traits involved in apple domestication. 37 Such knowledge has potential to boost innovation in present-day apple breeding. 38 39 40 41 42 43 Keywords: Adaptive introgression, self-incompatibility, rootstock, pathogen, Silk Road, targeted 44 sequencing, plant remains, paleogenetics. 45 46 47 Glossary 48 Archeobotany: The study of plant remains (seeds, fruits, wood, leaves, pollen, etc.) found in 49 archeological deposits with the aim of reconstructing the paleo-environment and the management of 50 plant resources (including the domestication of wild plants), their uses, and the waste disposal 51 practices of ancient societies. 52 Archeo/paleogenetics and -genomics: Research fields that use the genetic information gathered 53 from archeological plant or animal remains (ancient DNA; aDNA) to address questions about the 54 evolution, domestication and history of use and cultivation of plants and animals (e.g. [1-8]). 55 Balancing selection: Selection regimes that result in increased genetic diversity relative to neutral 56 expectations in populations of living organisms. 57 Crabapple [9]: Wild apple species that usually blossom profusely and produce small, acidic fruits. 58 The word crab comes from the Old English 'crabbe' meaning bitter or sharp tasting. Many 59 crabapples are cultivated as ornamental trees. In Western Europe the term crabapple is often used to 60 refer to Malus sylvestris (the European crabapple), in the Caucasus to M. orientalis (the Caucasian 61 crabapple) and, in Siberia, to M. baccata (the Siberian crabapple). The native North American 62

This article brings together in a comprehensive way, and for the first time, on- and off-site palaeoenvironmental data from the area of the Central European lake dwellings (a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site since 2011). The types of data considered are as follows: high-resolution off-site pollen cores, including micro-charcoal counts, and on-site data, including botanical macro- and micro-remains, hand-collected animal bones, remains of microfauna, and data on woodland management (dendrotypology). The period considered is the late Neolithic (c. 4300–2400 cal. BC). For this period, especially for its earlier phases, discussions of land-use patterns are contradictory. Based on off-site data, slash-and-burn – as known from tropical regions – is thought to be the only possible way to cultivate the land. On-site data however show a completely different picture: all indications point to the permanent cultivation of cereals ( Triticum spp., Hordeum vulgare), pea ( Pisum sativum), flax ( Linum usitatissimum) and opium-poppy ( Papaver somniferum). Cycles of landscape use are traceable, including coppicing and moving around the landscape with animal herds. Archaeobiological studies further indicate also that hunting and gathering were an important component and that the landscape was manipulated accordingly. Late Neolithic land-use systems also included the use of fire as a tool for opening up the landscape. Here we argue that bringing together all the types of palaeoenvironmental proxies in an integrative way allows us to draw a more comprehensive and reliable picture of the land-use systems in the late Neolithic than had been reconstructed previously largely on the basis of off-site data.