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The Role of Morphometry to Delineate Changes in the Spikelet Shape of Wild Cereals: The Case Study of Takarkori (Holocene, Central Sahara, SW Libya)

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Plants and People in the African Past

Abstract

A morphometrical study of hundreds of spikelets recovered from archaeological deposits of Takarkori (SW Libya ) provides data on the presence and size variations of wild cereals gathered by hunter-gatherers in the central Sahara during the Early and Middle Holocene (c. 10,200–c. 4600 cal yr BP). Spikelets of Panicum laetum, Echinochloa colona and Sorghum bicolor subsp. verticilliflorum, found in 18 seed/fruit concentrations, are measured using image analysis techniques. These data demonstrate that the archaeobotanical specimens have a similar typology, maturity stage and are of a uniform size, suggesting that they were selected by the human groups living in the area. Indeed, the spikelets of two samples recovered from sediments excavated elsewhere on the site compared to those from the seed concentrations, show a smaller size and greater variation in maturation status. Results are compared to metrical data obtained from modern species.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Italian-Libyan Archaeological Mission in the Acacus and Messak, directed by Savino di Lernia, which allowed the sampling and the analysis of the plant remains from Takarkori. The research was part of the PhD project of R.F. at the School Agri-food Science, Technologies and Bio-technologies (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia). Funds were provided by the project “SELCE—SELvatici CEreali: il futuro nella risposta delle piante ai cambiamenti climatici”, sect. Scientific and Technological Research (Sime n.2015.0033), funded by the FCRMO-Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Modena, directed by A.M.M.

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  1. Laboratorio di Palinologia e Paleobotanica, Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

    Rita Fornaciari, Rita Terenziani & Anna Maria Mercuri

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy

    Rita Fornaciari & Laura Arru

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  1. Rita Fornaciari
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  2. Laura Arru
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  3. Rita Terenziani
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  4. Anna Maria Mercuri
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Correspondence to Rita Fornaciari .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio di Palinologia e Paleobotanica, Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

    Anna Maria Mercuri

  2. Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

    A. Catherine D'Andrea

  3. Laboratorio di Palinologia e Paleobotanica, Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

    Rita Fornaciari

  4. Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften, Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt, Germany

    Alexa Höhn

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Fornaciari, R., Arru, L., Terenziani, R., Mercuri, A.M. (2018). The Role of Morphometry to Delineate Changes in the Spikelet Shape of Wild Cereals: The Case Study of Takarkori (Holocene, Central Sahara, SW Libya). In: Mercuri, A., D'Andrea, A., Fornaciari, R., Höhn, A. (eds) Plants and People in the African Past. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89839-1_7

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