Dig out, Dig in! Plant-based diet at the Late Bronze Age copper production site of Prigglitz-Gasteil (Lower Austria) and the relevance of processed foodstuffs for the supply of Alpine Bronze Age miners

Abstract

This paper starts from theoretical and methodical considerations about the role of archaeobotanical finds in culinary archaeology, emphasizing the importance of processed cereal preparations as the “missing link” between crop and consumption. These considerations are exemplified by the discussion of abundant new archaeobotanical data from the Late Bronze Age copper mining site of Prigglitz-Gasteil, situated at the easternmost fringe of the Alps. At this site, copper ore mining in opencast mines took place from the 11th until the 9th century BCE (late Urnfield Culture), as well as copper processing (beneficiation, smelting, refining, casting) on artificial terrain terraces. During archaeological excavations from 2010 to 2014, two areas of the site were investigated and sampled for archaeobotanical finds and micro-debris in a high-resolution approach. This paper aims at 1) analysing the food plant spectrum at the mining settlement of Prigglitz-Gasteil basing on charred plant macroremains, 2) investigating producer/consumer aspects of Prigglitz-Gasteil in comparison to the Bronze Age metallurgical sites of Kiechlberg, Klinglberg, and Mauken, and 3) reconstructing the miners’ and metallurgists’ diets. Our analyses demonstrate that the plant-based diet of the investigated mining communities reflects the general regional and chronological trends rather than particular preferences of the miners or metallurgists. The lack of chaff, combined with a high occurrence of processed food, suggests that the miners at Prigglitz-Gasteil were supplied from outside with ready-to-cook and processed grain, either from adjacent communities or from a larger distance. This consumer character is in accordance with observation from previously analysed metallurgical sites. Interestingly, the components observed in charred cereal products (barley, Hordeum vulgare, and foxtail millet, Setaria italica) contrast with the dominant crop taxa (broomcorn millet, Panicum miliaceum, foxtail millet, and lentil, Lens culinaris). Foraging of fruits and nuts also significantly contributed to the daily diet.

Hallstatt miners consumed blue cheese and beer during the Iron Age and retained a non-Westernized gut microbiome until the Baroque period

“…The food remains in the protohistoric sample with abundant entire fruits and seeds were less processed than those of the Baroque sample, which consisted of finely ground wheat. This suggests that the protohistoric miners consumed the cereals and legumes in a sort of gruel or porridge, 37 whereas miners in the 18th century AD ate their cereals in a more processed form, e.g., as a bread or biscuit.…”

“…To our knowledge, this represents the earliest known evidence for directed cheese ripening and affinage in Europe, adding a crucial aspect to an emerging picture of highly sophisticated culinary traditions in European protohistory. 37 Importantly, the production of blue cheese today involves a surface application of dry salt; therefore, it is characterized by a high salt content of up to 7.5% (w/w). 53 The cheese curd could have been collected, desiccated, and inoculated with the fungi in wooden cheese containers like the ones excavated in the Hallstatt mines ( Figure 4 C).…”

Combining geophysical prospection and core drilling: Reconstruction of a Late Bronze Age copper mine at Prigglitz‐Gasteil in the Eastern Alps (Austria)

“…Archaeological excavations took place here in 1956 and 1958 under the direction of archaeologist Franz Hampl and mineralogist Robert J. Mayrhofer (Hampl & Mayrhofer, 1963 ) and again from 2010 to 2014 under archaeologist Peter Trebsche ( 2010 , 2011 , 2012 , 2013 , 2014a , 2014b , 2014c ). The excavations on the excellently preserved settlement terraces, which were established on waste dumps immediately adjacent to the mining operations, provide detailed insights into the animal‐ and plant‐based diet of the inhabitants (Heiss et al, 2021 ; Trebsche & Pucher, 2013 ) and the various activities related to metal production (Haubner et al, 2015 , 2017 , 2019 ; Mödlinger & Trebsche, 2020 , 2021 ; Mödlinger et al, 2021 ), thus providing a unique insight into the living and working areas, the division of labour and the organizational structure of a relatively small copper production site on the edge of the Eastern Alps.…”