Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Cultivation and processing of Linum usitatissimum and Camelina sativa in southern Scandinavia during the Roman Iron Age

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Vegetation History and Archaeobotany Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Charred seed conglomerates of Linum usitatissimum (flax) and Camelina sativa (gold of pleasure) were found at Uppåkra 2:25, a Roman Iron Age site in Skåne, southern Sweden. The conglomerates showed no mixing with each other, as they were almost pure flax and gold of pleasure respectively. Together with other archaeobotanical data from the site, they provide new evidence on the use, processing and cultivation of these two plants in early Iron Age in Scandinavia. Metric analyses were applied to flax seeds from both conglomerates and other contexts at this site, and compared to seed assemblages from other Roman Iron Age sites in Europe. The comparison showed that the flax cultivation at Uppåkra 2:25 was intended for the production of oil-rich seeds. The contextual relationship indicates that both flax and gold of pleasure seeds were processed in a similar way and used for oil. Furthermore, the pure seed conglomerate of gold of pleasure suggests that this plant was not a weed, but rather an intentionally grown crop which was cultivated separately from flax.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allaby RG, Peterson GW, Merriwether DA, Fu Y-B (2005) Evidence of the domestication history of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) from genetic diversity of the sad2 locus. Theor Appl Genet 112:58–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andresen ST, Karg S (2011) Retting pit for textile fibre plants at Danish prehistoric sites dated between 800 B.C and A.D. 1050. Veget Hist Archaeobot 20:517–526

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aspeborg H, Becker N, Anglert M, Larsson S, Arcini C, Brorsson T, Cardell A, Knarrström B, Larsson M, Stark K, Svensson H (2013) Stora Uppåkra 2:25 basdokumentation. Arkeologisk undersökning 2011, Skåne, Staffantorps kommun, Uppåkra socken, Stora Uppåkra 2:25, RAÄ 39. (UV Syd Rapport 2010:61) Riksantikvarieämbetet, Stockholm Becker N (2010) Boplatslämningar från äldre järnålder i södra utkanten av Lund. Arkeologisk förundersökning 2010, Skåne, Staffantorps kommun, Uppåkra socken, Stora Uppåkra 2:25, RAÄ 39. (UV Syd Rapport 2010:23). Riksantikvarieämbetet, Stockholm

  • Becker N (2010) Boplatslämningar från äldre järnålder i södra utkanten av Lund. Arkeologisk förundersökning 2010, Skåne, Staffantorps kommun, Uppåkra socken, Stora Uppåkra 2:25, RAÄ 39. (UV Syd Rapport 2010:23). Riksantikvarieämbetet.

  • Becker N, Cardell A, Brorsson T, Larsson M (2012) Äldre järnåldersbebyggelse i centralplatsens omland. Särskild arkeologisk undersökning 2009, Skåne, Staffantorps kommun, Uppåkra socken, Stora Uppåkra 12:110, RAÄ 36. (UV Syd Rapport 2012:51). Riksantikvarieämbetet, Stockholm

  • Bennet S (1738) Directeuren Stephen Bennets Berättelse om lins planterande, beredande spinning, wäfnad och öfrigatilberedning, til allmän nytta genom trycket utgifwen år 1738. Stockholm, tryckt hos kongl. bokt. i stor-förstd. Finland, sal. Henr. C. Merckellsenkia

  • Bosi G, Rinaldi R, Mazzanti MB (2011) Flax and weld: archaeological records from Multina (Emilia Romagna, Northern Italy), dated to the Imperial Age, first half 1st century A.D. Veget Hist Archaeobot 20:543–548

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bronk Ramsey B (2005) http://c14.arch.ox.ac.uk/oxcal3/oxcal.htm

  • Broocman R (1736) En fulständig SwenskHus-hålls-bok. Norrköping

  • Buurman J (1993) Carbonized plant remains from a pre-Roman Iron Age house site at Opperdoes, West Friesland, The Netherlands. Veget Hist Archaeobot 2:69–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buurman J, Pals JP (1974) Some remarks on prehistoric flax in the Netherlands. (I.P.P. publications 196), ROB, Amersfoort

  • Cappers RTJ, Neef R (2012) Handbook of plant palaeoecology. (Groningen Archaeological Studies 19) Barkhuis, Eelde

  • Dahlman CE (1772) Swenska red-dejan eller wälöfwada hushållerskan. Västerås, hos Johan Laur. Horrn, på deß bekostnad

  • Ertuğ F (2000) Linseed oil and oil mills in Central Turkey/Linum Eruca, important oil plants of Anatolia. Anatol Stud 50:171–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gyulai F (2010) Archaeobotany in Hungary. Seeds, fruits and beverage remains in the Carpathian Basin from the Neolithic to the Late Middle Ages. Archaeolingua alapitvany, Budapest

  • Hansson A-M (1995) Analys av fossilt växtmaterial från RAÄ 235, Odensala prästgård, Odensala socken. In: Olausson M (ed) I det slutna rummet—om kultiska hägnader, fornborgar och befästa gårdar i Uppland från 1300 f Kr till Kristi födelse. (Riksantikvarieämbetet, Arkeologiska undersökningar, Skrifter nr 9) Riksantikvarieämbetet, Stockholm, pp 261–269

  • Hansson A-M (1996) Bread in Birka and on Björkö. Laborativ Arkeologi. J Nord Archaeol Sci 9:61–78

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansson A-M (2006) Rapport om fossila växtrester funna i Gullögen, Husby Långhundrasn, Uppland. In: Arrhenius B, Eriksson G (eds) Gulldens hög i Husby-Långahundra. (Rapporter från Arkeologiska forskningslaboratoriet 6), Arkeologiska Forskningslaboratoriet, Stockholm, pp 73–80

  • Hansson A-M (2011) Bread offerings at Foundation IV, Helgö—further influence from the classical world? In: Arrhenius B, O’Meadhra U (eds) Excavations at Helgö XVIII. Conclusions and new aspects. Kungliga Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademin, Stockholm, pp 53–77

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansson A-M, Linden K, Isaksson S (1993) The charred seed-cake from Eketorp. In: Arwidsson G et al. (eds) Sources and resources. Studies in honour of Birgit Arrhenius. (PACT 38) Rixensart, Belgium, pp 303–315

  • Hårdh B (1999) Fynden i centrum—keramik, glas och metall från Uppåkra. (Uppåkrastudier 2) Almqvist & Wiksell, Lund

  • Hårdh B (2003) Flera fynd i centrum—materialstudier i och kring Uppåkra. (Uppåkrastudier 9) Almqvist & Wiksell, Lund

  • Harlan JR (1975) Crops and man. American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Madison

  • Harper JL, Lovell PH, Moore KG (1970) The shapes and sizes of seeds. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 1:327–356

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hatt G (1938) Jernalderens bopladser i Himmerland. Aarbøger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie 1938 pp 119–266

  • Hatt G (1939) Jylländskt bondeliv under äldre järnåldern. Omläggning av jordbruket under inverkan av klimatförsämring. Nordisk familjeboks månadskrönika, 2nd edn. Häfte 7, Nordisk Familjeboks Förlags, Stockholm, pp 463–469

  • Helbæk H (1959) Notes on the evolution and history of Linum. Kuml, pp103–129

  • Helbæk H (1976) Agronomic practices in migration period Eketorp. In: Näsman U, Wegraeus E (eds) Eketorp—fortification and settlement on Öland/Sweden. The Setting. KVHAA, Stockholm, pp 115–127

    Google Scholar 

  • Helgesson B (2002) Järnålderns Skåne. Samhälle, centra och regioner. (Uppåkrastudier 5) Almqvist & Wiksell, Lund

  • Henriksen PS (1992) Jernalderenslandbrug beskrevet udfraarkæologiskefrøfynd. NNU rapport 20, pp 1–16

  • Henriksen PS (2009) Archaeobotanical evidence of flax in the prehistoric Denmark. In: Karg S (ed) The International Flax Network. Communicating Culture Aps, Copenhagen

    Google Scholar 

  • Henriksen PS, Robinson D (1996) Early Iron Age agriculture: archaeobotanical evidence from an underground granary at Overbygård in northern Jutland, Denmark. Veget Hist Archaeobot 5:1–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herbig C, Maier U (2011) Flax for oil or fibre? Morphometric analysis of flax seeds and new aspects of flax cultivation in Late Neolithic wetland settlements in southwest Germany. Veget Hist Archaeobot 20:527–533

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hillman GC, Colledge SM, Harris DR (1989) Plant-food economy during the Epipalaeolithic period at Tell Abu Hureyra, Syria: dietary diversity, seasonality, and modes of exploitation. In: Harris DR, Hillman GH (eds) Foraging and farming: the evolution of plant exploitation. Unwin & Hyman, London, pp 240–268

    Google Scholar 

  • Hjelmqvist H (1950) The flax weeds and the origin of cultivated flax. Bot Not 2:257–298

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopf M (1961) Pflanzenfunde aus Lerna/Argolis. Der Züchter 31:239–247

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacomet S (2007) Neolithic plant economies in the northern Alpine Foreland. In: Colledge S, Conolly J (eds) The origins and spread of domestic plants in southwest Asia and Europe. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek (Cal), pp 221–258

    Google Scholar 

  • Jessen K (1933) Planterester fra den ældre Jernalder i Thy. Bot tidskrift 42:3

    Google Scholar 

  • Karg S (2011a) Special issue: flax—new research on the cultural history of the useful plant Linum usitatissimum L. Veget Hist Archaeobot 20:6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karg S (2011b) New research on the cultural history of the useful plant Linum usitatissimum L. (flax), a resource for food and textiles for 8,000 years. Veget Hist Archaeobot 20:507–508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karg S (2012) Oil-rich seeds from prehistoric contexts in southern Scandinavia—reflections on archaeobotanical records of flax, hemp, gold of pleasure, and corn spurrey. Acta Palaeobot 52:17–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Kislev ME, Simchoni O, Melamed Y, Maroz L (2011) Flax seed production: evidence from the early Iron Age site of Tel Beth-Shean, Israel and from written sources. Veget Hist Archaeobot 20:579–584

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kohler-Schneider M (2007) Early agriculture and subsistence in Austria: a review of Neolithic plant records. In: Colledge S, Conolly J (eds) The origins and spread of domestic plants in southwest Asia and Europe. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek (Cal), pp 209–220

    Google Scholar 

  • Körber-Grohne U (1967) Geobotanische Untersuchungen auf der Feddersen Wierde. Steiner, Wiesbaden

    Google Scholar 

  • Körber-Grohne U (1988) Nutzpflanzen in Deutschland. Theiss, Stuttgart

    Google Scholar 

  • Kreuz A (2007) Archaeobotanical perspectives on the beginning of agriculture north of the Alps. In: Colledge S, Conolly J (eds) The origins and spread of domestic plants in southwest Asia and Europe. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, pp 259–294

    Google Scholar 

  • Kroll H (1991) Südosteuropa. In: Van Zeist W, Wasylikowa K, Behre K-E (eds) Progress in old world palaeoethnobotany. Balkema, Rotterdam, pp 161–177

    Google Scholar 

  • Lange E (1979) Verkohlte Pflanzenreste aus den slawischen Siedlungsplätzen Brandenburg und Zirzow (Kr. Neubrandenburg). In: Körber-Grohne U (ed) Festschrift Maria Hopf. Rheinland-Verlag, Köln, pp 191–207

    Google Scholar 

  • Larsson L (1998) Gjort och ogjort i Uppåkra. In: Larsson L, Hårdh B (eds) Centrala platser, centrala frågor—samhällsstrukturen under järnåldern. (Uppåkrastudier 1) Almqvist & Wiksell, Lund, pp 95–112

  • Larsson L (2006) Hall, harg eller hof. Ett kulthus I Uppåkra. In: Anglert M, Artursson M, Svanberg F (eds) Kulthus och dödshus. Det ritualiserade rummets teori och praktik. Rikantikvarieämbetet, Stockholm, pp 143–152

  • Larsson L, Lenntorp K-M (2004) The enigmatic house. In: Larsson L (ed) Continuity for centuries. A ceremonial building and its context at Uppåkra, southern Sweden (Uppåkrastudier 10, Acta Archaeologica Lundensia series 8, 48). Almqvist & Wiksell, Lund, pp 3–42

  • Latałowa M (1998) Botanical analysis of a bundle of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) from a early medieval site in northern Poland; a contribution to the history of flax cultivation and its field weeds. Veget Hist Archaeobot 7:97–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindahl J, Lagerås P, Regnell M (1995) A deposition of bark vessel, flax and opium poppy from 2500 B.P. in Sallerup, southern Sweden. In: Robertsson A-M, Hackens T, Hicks S, Risberg J, Åkerlund A (eds) Landscapes and life. Studies in honour of Urve Miller. (PACT 50) Rixensart, Belgium, pp 305–330

  • Lisson SN (2003) Linum usitatissimum L. In: Brink M, Escobin PR (eds) Plant resources of south-east Asia No 17. Fibre plants. Backhuys, Leiden, pp 172–179

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu F-U, Chen X, Long B, Shuai R-Y, Long C (2011) Historical and botanical evidence of distribution cultivation and utilization of Linum usitatissimum L. (flax) in China. Veget Hist Archaeobot 20:561–566

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maier U, Schlichtherle H (2011) Flax cultivation and textile production in Neolithic wetland settlements on Lake Constance and in Upper Swabia (south-west Germany). Veget Hist Archaeobot 20:567–578

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marchenkov A, Rozhmina T, Uschapovsk I, Muir AD (2003) Cultivation of flax. In: Muir AD, Westcott ND (eds) Flax—the genus Linum. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy DJ (2007) People, plants and genes. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Osvald H (1959) Åkerns nyttoväxter. AB Svensk Litteratur, Stockholm

    Google Scholar 

  • Regnell M (2001) Gård, åker och äng—den centrala platsens triviala bas. In: Larsson L (ed) Uppåkra—Centrum i analys och rapport (Uppåkrastudier 4, Acta Archaeologica Lundensia Series in 8° 36). Stockholm, pp 113–122

  • Renfrew J (1973) Palaeoethnobotany. The prehistoric food plants of the Near East and Europe. Columbia University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson D (1993) En sammenbrændt klump af hørfrø i ett førromerskt lerkar fra Stoustrupved Fredericia. NNU rapport nr 5

  • Runge M, Henriksen PS (2007) Danmarks ældstehørindustrie. Fynske Minder 2007:145–165

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt KS, Brorsson T, Larsson M (2011) En vikingatida storgård samt äldre och yngre lämningar. Särskild arkeologisk undersökning, Skåne, Staffanstorp kommun, Uppåkra socken, Hjärup 9:8, RAÄ 26:1 & 42 (UV Syd Rapport 2011:113). Riksantikvarieämbetet, Stockholm

  • Schultze-Motel (1979) DieAnbaugeschichte des Leindotters, Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz. In: Körber-Grohne U (ed) Festschrift Maria Hopf. Rheinland-Verlag, Köln, pp 267–281

    Google Scholar 

  • Séguin-Swartz G, Warwick SI, Gugel RK, Olivier CY, Soroka J, Strelkov SE, Klein-Gebbinck H, Falk KC (2010) Biology of Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz (false flax). Final report to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. 7 June 2010

  • Stebbins GL (1949) Reality and efficacy of selection in plants. Proc Am Philos Soc 93(6):501–513

    Google Scholar 

  • Tedin VO (1922) Zur Blüten- und Befruchtungsbiologie des Leindotters (Camelina sativa). Bot Not 1922:177–189

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaisey-Genser M, Morris DH (2003) Introduction: history of the cultivation and uses of flaxseed. In: Muir AD, Westcott ND (eds) Flax—the genus Linum. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Valamoti SM (2011) Flax in Neolithic and Bronze Age Greece: archaeobotanical evidence. Veget Hist Archaeobot 20:549–560

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Zeist W, Bakker-Heeres JAH (1975) Evidence for linseed cultivation before 6000 B.C. J Archaeol Sci 2:215–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vavilov NI, Dorofeyev VF (1992) Origin and geography of cultivated plants (transl. from Russian by Löve D). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

  • Viklund K (2011) Flax in Sweden: the archaeobotanical, archaeological and historical evidence. Veget Hist Archaeobot 20:509–516

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wennberg B (1985) Iron Age agriculture at Trogsta, North Sweden (Järnålders jordbruki Trogsta, Hälsingland). Fornvännen 81:254–261

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeven AC, Zheukovsky PM (1975) Dictionary of cultivated plants and their centers of diversity. Excluding ornamentals, forest trees and lower plants. Centre for Agricultural Publishing and Documentation, Wageningen

  • Zohary D (1996) The mode of domestication of the founder crops of southwest Asian agriculture. In: Harris DR (ed) The origin and spread of agriculture and pastoralism in Eurasia. University College London Press, London, pp 142–158

    Google Scholar 

  • Zohary D, Hopf M, Weiss E (2012) Domestication of plants in the old world, 4th edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank Per Lagerås and Lars Larsson for valuable discussions and comments on the manuscript, and Helmut Kroll and Wiebke Kirleis for valuable discussions. The outcome of this article is a collaboration with the Swedish National Heritage Board and I would like to thank all archaeologists involved in the project and especially Håkan Aspeborg.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Archaeology and Ancient Antiquity, University of Lund, Sandgatan 1, 223 50, Lund, Sweden

    Mikael Larsson

Authors
  1. Mikael Larsson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mikael Larsson.

Additional information

Communicated by M. Latałowa.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (XLSX 15 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Larsson, M. Cultivation and processing of Linum usitatissimum and Camelina sativa in southern Scandinavia during the Roman Iron Age. Veget Hist Archaeobot 22, 509–520 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-013-0413-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-013-0413-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation