Early Iron Age agriculture: archaeobotanical evidence from an underground granary at Overbyg»rd in northern Jutland, Denmark

Abstract

In the Late Pre-Roman Iron Age an underground granary in the village of Overbyg»rd was destroyed by fire and the contents were carbonised. Almost 2000 years later, analyses of the macroremains of the granary, which included a range of processed and unprocessed crops and weed seeds, showed that naked barley (Hordeum vulgare var. nudum) and bread wheat (Triticum aestivum s.l.) were the main crops cultivated, hulled barley (Hordeum vulgare) and flax (Linum usitatissimum) also played a role, whereas emmer (Triticum dicoccum) and gold of pleasure (Camelina sativa) were present as weeds or contaminants. The arable weed flora suggests that crops were sown in spring and that ecological conditions in the arable fields were very variable. The crops were harvested on the straw and may have spent some time drying and maturing in the fields before being transported home to be stored as severed ears in pest-proof granaries. Winnowing or, more probably, casting appears to have been used to clean the crop after threshing. It could not be ascertained if the crops had been sieved. Large collections of weed seeds in the granary were apparently the result of intentional gathering for food, rather than by-products of crop processing. In the light of the investigation it is suggested that future research into Iron Age agrarian practices should include both the analysis of archaeobotanical finds and a programme of practical experiments. This dual approach will give us a much better understanding of arable agriculture, not only in the Iron Age, but in prehistory as a whole.