Original scientific paper
Traces of Bronze Age nutrition on the Kalnik – preserved by fire
Snježana Karavanić
; Institute of archaeology, Zagreb, Croatia
Andreja Kudelić
orcid.org/0000-0003-2598-1653
; Institute of archaeology, Zagreb, Croatia
Sara Mareković
orcid.org/0000-0002-2443-0166
; Faculty of Science, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The archeological site Kalnik-Igrišče has during the last two decades become one of the most prominent Bronze Age sites in Croatia primarily thanks to the results of the systematic archeological excavations which have been conducted since 1988 (Majnarić-Pandžić 1992; Vrdoljak 1992; Vrdoljak, Forenbaher 1995). The site – where the remains of settlements from the Copper, Bronze, Late Iron Age and Roman period were found during the years – is situated on the southern terraces of the Kalnik at 500 meters above sea level. Based on the settlement remains and archaeological artefacts analysis and according to the potential of the Kalnik-Igrišče site, new systematic excavations were initiated by the Institute for Archeology under the leadership of Dr. Sc. Snježana Karavanić.
Research began in 2006, and the very next year it was clear that Kalnik is extremely complex multilayered site with layers from different periods of prehistory. The most abundant finds date to the Late Bronze Age. In 2008 archaeological excavations at Kalnik-Igrišče yielded the remains of a Late Bronze Age structure, dated to the 9th century BC based on the radiocarbon measurements of charred cereal grains (Karavanić 2008, Karavanić 2009). On the house floor among broken pottery an abundant sample of carbonised grains were discovered. The collected samples were preserved in an excellent condition, carbonized by the fire that destroyed the house. A hearth was also discovered at the floor level, while the rest of the structure extends eastwards beyond the limits of the archaeological trench. A smaller section of the house was explored, measuring approximately 35 square meters. In 2012 the trench was investigated fully and it was concluded that the house rested on wooden pillars which were firmly implanted in the rocky subsoil. Non-destructive investigation methods such as field surveying and geophysical probing were conducted on the site during 2012 and 2013.
The further article elucidates the context of the uncovered Bronze Age structure and contains a short overview of the pottery finds, together with a detailed analysis of the archeobotanical material. The pottery are classified into four basic functional groups: bowls (most numerous), pots used to prepare food in the fireplace, amphorae and smaller vessels of different purposes and finer texture. The analysis of the full sample of the archeobotanical finds was conducted as part of a doctoral dissertation at the Department of Biology of the Faculty of Science in Zagreb (Mareković 2013). According to the archeobotanical analysis of the macrofossils, the following plant species were found in the analyzed sample ranging from most numerous to least: millet (Panicum miliaceum), barley (Hordeum vulgare), broad bean (Vicia faba L.), common wheat (Triticum aestivum ssp. aestivum), emmer (Triticum turgidum
ssp. dicoccon), lentil (Lens culinaris), spelt (Triticum aestivum ssp. spelta), while oats (Avena), rye (Secale cereale), peas (Pisum sativum), acorn (Quercus), European wilde apple (Malus sylvestris), European cornel (Cornus mas) were not present to such an extent. The mentioned species were divided into four groups:
These species were divided into 4 basic groups:
1. Cereals: millet (Panicum miliaceum), barley (Hordeum vulgare), common wheat (Triticum aestivum ssp. aestivum), emmer wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccon), spelt (Triticum aestivum ssp. Spelta), oat (Avena), rye (Secale cereale), foxtail millet (Setaria italica)
2. Legumes: broad bean (Vicia Faba L.), lentil (Lens culinaris), pea (Pisum sativum),
3. Useful wild woody plants: acorn (Quercus), wilde apple (Malus sylvestris), Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas)
4. Crop weeds. Field brome (Bromus arvensis), rye brome (Bromus secalinus), barnyard millet (Echinochloa crus-galli), cleavers (Galium aparine), false cleavers (Galium spurium)
The finds consist mostly of cereals (millet and barley). On the basis of the findings of weed (Galium aparine), which is connected with winter wheat, it can be concluded that the community gave preference to the autumn harvest by sowing winter wheat, while millet was sowed during the spring. Based on the very small proportion of weeds in the sample we assume that the community was well organized, and that it stored thoroughly cleaned cereals. The space in which the analysed samples were found might be associated with a domestic storage of food, that is, a store of a single household. The presence of isolated, but also mixed grains in the context of finds speaks of the storing of individual species on the one hand and mixed species on the other, which may point to the way food was prepared in the household.
Keywords
archeological site; Bronze Age; settlement; archeobotany; Kalnik-Igrišče
Hrčak ID:
150062
URI
Publication date:
28.12.2015.
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