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Plant remains from a Bell Beaker site in Switzerland, and the beginnings of Triticum spelta (spelt) cultivation in Europe

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Abstract

Little is known of the archaeobotany of the Bell Beaker period. The village of Cortaillod/Sur les Rochettes-est in Switzerland is one of the first settlements of this date discovered so far; and one of the few sites where systematic archaeobotanical research could be undertaken. The 114 features, mainly postholes, produced 5080 charred plant macrofossils. The composition of the cereal spectrum was dominated by hulled wheats and notably by Triticum spelta (spelt). Other important components were Triticum dicoccum (emmer) and T. monococcum (einkorn), and probably also Hordeum (barley). The abundance of spelt represents a fundamental change compared with the plant finds from earlier sites of the region. The origin of this cereal species is discussed in the light of recent results of cytogenetic and molecular research.

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Acknowledgements

I wish to thank B. Arnold and M. Egloff of the Musée et Service Cantonal d’Archéologie de Neuchâtel for funding archaeobotanical research in the A5 project. I am very grateful to A. von Burg for archaeological information about the site and to Kazi Aktheruzzaman, R. Aladé Kossi, I. Geith-Chauvière and M. Christen for their assistance in processing and analysing the plant remains. I gratefully acknowledge R. Blatter, L. Bouby, R. Giles, F. Gyulai, S. Hosch, S. Jacomet, M. Kühn, E. Marinova, D.E. Robinson, M. Rottoli, and A. Schlumbaum for information and discussions about the subject, S. Jacomet, M. Kohler-Schneider and an unknown referee for comments on an earlier version of the manuscript, and M. Collinge and J. Carrott for improving the English text

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  1. Palaeoecology Research Services Limited, Unit 8, Dabble Duck Industrial Estate, County Durham DL4 2RA, Shildon, Great Britain

    Örni Akeret

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Akeret, Ö. Plant remains from a Bell Beaker site in Switzerland, and the beginnings of Triticum spelta (spelt) cultivation in Europe. Veget Hist Archaeobot 14, 279–286 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-005-0071-1

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