Early Neolithic (ca. 5850-4500 cal BC) agricultural diffusion in the Western Mediterranean: An update of archaeobotanical data in SW France

Abstract

Farming economy was first introduced to the coastal areas of Southern France by Impressa groups (ca. 5850-5650 cal BC), originating from Italy, and subsequently spread to the hinterland by Cardial/Epicardial communities (ca. 5400-4500 cal BC). Fruit and seed remains preserved in archaeological sites provide direct evidence of the botanical resources cultivated and collected by these ancient social groups. But the transition from hunter-gathering to agricultural subsistence strategies is still poorly known in the area, due to insufficient and sometimes outdated archaeobotanical studies. Here we present new results and a critical review of all the available archaeobotanical data, in order to characterize food plant resources, cultivation practices and their variations in time and space. The archaeological dataset is composed of 19 sites (20 site/phases) mostly located in the Mediterranean lowlands. Our results demonstrate that farming economy of the Impressa groups was focused on the cultivation of hulled wheats, with only slight differences compared to their South Italian origins. The contribution of naked cereals increased in the Cardial/Epicardial agriculture, in agreement with the situation in other areas of the Western Mediterranean. The subsistence economy of hinterland sites seems to include a wider contribution of wild fruits and more limited contribution of crops. However, the poor evidence of cultivation activities in the hinterland is likely due first to the difficulties to find and excavate the sites and perform largescale archaeobotanical sampling. It is likely that agriculture played a significant but variable role between sites and territories.

Middle Neolithic farming of open-air sites in SE France: new insights from archaeobotanical investigations of three wells found at Les Bagnoles (L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Dépt. Vaucluse, France)

“…3950-3750 cal bc (MN2). Earlier results have shown that during the early Neolithic (5th millennium bc) these glume wheats had considerable importance in the area investigated, but then during MN1 they became rare, before they regained importance during MN2 (Bouby et al 2020a;de Vareilles et al 2020). This increase coincides with general observations based on grain counts from sites in southern France (Martin et al 2016;Antolín et al 2020b), which suggest a revived focus on glume wheats.…”

“…Barley seems to have spread in the northwestern Mediterranean area since the Early Neolithic period in the first Impressa culture sites (ca. 5850-5650 cal bc) in southern France (Bouby et al 2020a). Ear and rachis fragments of two-rowed barley (unclear if hulled or naked) were recorded from La Draga in Banyoles, Spain, belonging to the Cardial culture (ca.…”

Direct dating reveals the early history of opium poppy in western Europe

“…Four sites (among the nine sites listed in the inventory, see Supplementary Information S2)-La Marmotta (Italy), La Draga (Spain), Le Taï (France), and Los Castillejos (Spain)-belong to the Impressed ware complex that corresponds to the first agro-pastoralists of the central and western Mediterranean. La Marmotta is one of the earliest sites that have delivered opium poppy in western Europe 22,24 (Fig. 1A1).…”

“…At Peiro Signado (Impressa culture), in southern France, a sole charred seed has been identified. This open-air site has been dated using charcoal and cereals to between 5885 and 5720 cal BCE 22,23 . At La Marmotta (Cardial culture), in central Italy, charred capsules were preserved in several archaeological layers 24 .…”

“…Part of the multiphase pile-dwelling site is dated to between 5538 and 5290 cal BCE by dendrochronology 25 . Additional records in Spain and southeast France are mainly attributed to the Cardial and Epicardial cultures and dated from 5200 and 5000 BCE 7,22 . In temperate Europe (i.e.…”