The Floral Assemblages

Review on vegetation, landscape and climate changes in the Carpathian Basin during the Neolithic and Chalcolithic period

“…The authors concluded that livestock management remained small-scale during the Neolithic and CA and dairy use was minimal. This finding would suggest that the scarcity of plant remains at CA sites is rather a taphonomical or household management issue (Yerkes et al 2021) and do not reflect the decreasing importance of crop farming. This inference was also corroborated by the stable isotope study of Gamarra et al (2018).…”

“…The species spectrum of crop plants has however changed little in the CA, even though this inference is based on the study of very few sites, since very few sites are known from the Boleráz and Baden periods where systematic archaeobotanical studies were made. Exceptions are the ECA Vésztő-Bikeri and Körösladány-Bikeri sites, where Kasper (2003) and Yerkes et al (2021) did systematic collection and analyses of archaeobotanical material. Hordeum vulgare (hulled barley) and H. vulgare var.…”

“…Panicum miliaceum was also found in a relatively large number at Bikeri, but these seed remains were not dated, therefore their Neolithic origin requires further confirmation. The authors suggested that in the sotheastern GHP it became a more frequently grown staple crop during the CA, possibly due to its desirable traits (poor soil and extreme weather tolerance, spring sowing) (Yerkes et al 2021), but as we noted above, a recent study came to the conclusion that it was not cultivated in eastern central Europe prior to the Bronze Age (Filipović et al 2020). Very few seeds of Lens culinaris, Lathyrus sativus (grass pea), Cicer arietinum (chickpea), Pisum sp.…”

“…(wild plum), Vitis sylvestris (wild grape) and Corylus avellana were also identified in longhouse-related contexts at Bikeri suggesting the collection of these fruits from the steppe oak and floodplain forests. Interestingly, the publication of Yerkes et al (2021) is the first to mention the possible intensification of cereal cultivation at Körösladány-Bikeri (ECA Tiszapolgár Culture). They argue that crop farming may have been fostered by the introduction of ox-drawn ard ploughing.…”