Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

From the field to the hearth: plant remains from Neolithic Croatia (ca. 6000–4000 cal bc)

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

Abstract

Until recently the recovery of plant remains in Croatia was rare, resulting in few studies addressing the nature of Neolithic crop cultivation. This paper presents new archaeobotanical data from eleven Neolithic settlements in coastal and continental Croatia. Within continental Croatia, three sites dating to the Starčevo culture (early/middle Neolithic; ca. 6000–5300 cal bc) and six to the Sopot culture (late Neolithic; ca. 5300–4000 cal bc) are examined along with two Hvar culture sites (late Neolithic; ca. 4800–4000 cal bc) located along the coast. Different settlement types are included in the study: open air sites, tells and cave sites. From the data collected the most common crops identified were einkorn, emmer, barley, lentil, pea and flax, as well as the fruits Cornus mas (Cornelian cherry) and Physalis alkekengi (Chinese lantern), which were particularly dominant in the Sopot culture settlements. By examining formation processes, sieved crop processing products and by-products were identified at six of the sites, suggesting that cereals were processed on a day-to-day basis at the household level. In contrast, the remains from the late Neolithic coastal cave site of Turska Peć suggest two distinct formation processes. At the eastern side of the cave the plant remains suggest that episodes of dung burning occurred, possibly to clear the cave of excess waste during seasonal habitation of the cave by herders and livestock. Towards the back of the cave, cereal remains and higher charcoal densities may suggest an area used for food preparation or cooking.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acharya SN, Kastelic JP, Beauchemin KA, Messenger DF (2006) A review of research progress on cicer milkvetch (Astragalus cicer L.). Can J Plant Sci 86:49–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Akeret Ö (2005) 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

    Google Scholar 

  • Angelucci DE, Boschian G, Fontanals M, Pedrotti A, Vergès JM (2009) Shepherds and karst: the use of caves and rock-shelters in the Mediterranean region during the Neolithic. World Archaeol 41:191–214

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey DW (2000) Balkan prehistory: exclusion, incorporation and identity. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Balen J (2008) Tomašanci-Palača. In: Mesić J (ed) Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak, vol 5. Ministarstvo Kulture, Zagreb, pp 60–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Balen J, Bilić T, Bunčić M, Drnić I, Solter A (2009) Rezultati zaštitnih istraživanja na lokalitetu Ivandor-Šuma Gaj (Results of rescue excavations on the site Ivandvor–Gaj, in Croatian). Vjesnik Arheološkog Muzeja u Zagrebu 42(23):72

    Google Scholar 

  • Bass B (1998) Early Neolithic offshore accounts: remote islands, maritime exploitations, and the trans-Adriatic cultural network. J Mediterr Archaeol 11:165–190

    Google Scholar 

  • Bass B (2004) The maritime expansion of Early Neolithic agro-pastoralism in the eastern Adriatic Sea. Atti della Società per la Preistoria e Protostoria della Regione Friuli-Venezia Giulia 14(2003):45–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Behre K-E (1992) The history of rye cultivation in Europe. Veget Hist Archaeobot 1:141–156

    Google Scholar 

  • Behre K-E (2008) Collected seeds and fruits from herbs as prehistoric food. Veget Hist Archaeobot 17:65–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Bogaard A (2004) Neolithic farming in central Europe: an archaeobotanical study of crop husbandry practices. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Bogucki P (1996) The spread of early farming in Europe. Am Sci 84:242–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Borić D (2005) Fuzzy horizons of change: orientalism and the frontier model in the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition. In: Milner N, Woodman P (eds) Mesolithic studies at the beginning of the 21st century. Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp 81–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Borojević K (2006) Terra and Silva in the Pannonian plain: Opovo agro-gathering in the Late Neolithic, vol 1563. BAR international seriesArcheopress, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Borojević K, Forenbaher S, Kaiser T, Berna F (2008) Plant use at Grapčeva cave and in the eastern Adriatic Neolithic. J Field Archaeol 33:279–303

    Google Scholar 

  • Bozilova ED, Tonkov SB (2000) Pollen from Lake Sedmo Rilsko reveals Southeast European postglacial vegetation in the highest mountain area of the Balkans. New Phytol 148:315–325

    Google Scholar 

  • Brombacher C, Jacomet S (1997) Ackerbau, Sammelwirtschaft und Umwelt: Ergebnisse archäobotanischer Untersuchungen. In: Schibler J, Hüster-Plogmann H, Jacomet S, Brombacher C, Gross-Klee E, Rast-Eicher A (eds) Ökonomie und Ökologie neolithischer und bronzezeitlicher Ufersiedlungen am Zürichsee. Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen Mozartstrasse, Kanalisationssanierungen Seefeld, AKAD/Pressehaus und Mythenschloss in Zürich, vol 20. Monographien der Kantonsarchäologie Zürich Zürich und Egg, Kantonsarchäologie Zürich, pp 220–279

    Google Scholar 

  • Burić M (2007) Bapska-Gradac. In: Blanda M (ed) Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak, vol 4. Ministarstvo Kulture, Zagreb, pp 45–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman JC, Müller J (1990) Early farmers in the Mediterranean basin: the Dalmatian evidence. Antiquity 64:127–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman JC, Shiel R, Batović Š (1996) The changing face of Dalmatia. Leicester University Press, Leicester

    Google Scholar 

  • Charles M (1998) Fodder from dung: the recognition and interpretation of dung derived plant material from archaeological sites. Environ Archaeol 1:111–122

    Google Scholar 

  • Colledge S, Conolly J (2007) The origins and spread of domestic crops in Southwest Asia and Europe. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, CA

    Google Scholar 

  • Colledge S, Conolly J (2014) Wild plant use in European Neolithic subsistence economies: a formal assessment of preservation bias in archaeobotanical assemblages and the implications for understanding changes in plant diet breadth. Quat Sci Rev 101:193–206

    Google Scholar 

  • Colledge S, Conolly J, Shennan S (2004) Archaeobotanical evidence for the spread of farming in the Eastern Mediterranean. Curr Anthropol 45:S35–S58

  • Colledge S, Conolly J, Shennan S (2005) The evolution of Neolithic farming from SW Asian origins to NW European limits. Eur J Archaeol 8:137–156

  • Conolly J, Colledge S, Shennan S (2008) Founder effect, drift, and adaptive change in domestic crop use in early Neolithic Europe. J Archaeol Sci 35:2,797–2,804

    Google Scholar 

  • Davison K, Dolukhanov P, Sarson GR, Shukurov A (2006) The role of waterways in the spread of the Neolithic. J Archaeol Sci 33:641–652

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennell RW (1974) The purity of prehistoric crops. Proc Prehist Soc 40:132–135

    Google Scholar 

  • Filipović D, Obradović Đ (2013) Archaeobotany at Neolithic sites in Serbia: a critical overview of the methods and results. In: Miladinović-Radmilović N, Vitezović S (eds) Bioarheologija na Balkanu: bilans i perspektive. Srpsko Arheološko Društvo, Beograd, pp 25–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Forenbaher S, Miracle PT (2005) The spread of farming in the eastern Adriatic. Antiquity 79:514–528

    Google Scholar 

  • Forenbaher S, Kaiser T, Miracle PT (2013) Dating the East Adriatic Neolithic. Eur J Archaeol 16:589–609

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuller D (2012) UC research reveals one of the earliest farming sites in Europe. University of Cincinnati News. http://www.uc.edu/news/NR.aspx?id=15552. Accessed 9 Nov 2014

  • Gnirs A (1925) Istria praeromana. W. Heinisch, Karlsbad, Germany

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregg S (1989) Paleo-ethnobotany of the Bandkeramik phases. In: Kind C (ed) Ulm-Eggingen: Die Ausgrabungen 1982 bis 1985 in der bandkeramischen Siedlung und der mittelalterlichen Wüstung (Forsch Ber Vor- Frühgesch Bad-Württ 34). Theiss, Stuttgart, pp 367–399

    Google Scholar 

  • Gyulai F (2010) Archaeobotany in Hungary: seed, fruit, food and beverage remains in the Carpathian basin from the Neolithic to the late Middle Ages. Archaeolingua, Budapest

    Google Scholar 

  • Halstead P (1994) The North–South divide: regional paths to complexity in prehistoric Greece. In: Mathers C, Stoddart S (eds) Development and decline in the Mediterranean Bronze Age (Sheffield Archaeological Monographs 8). Collis, Sheffield, pp 195–219

    Google Scholar 

  • Halstead P (1995) Late Bronze Age grain crops and linear B ideograms *65, *120, and *121. Ann Brit School Athens 90:229–234

    Google Scholar 

  • Halstead P (2000) Land use in postglacial Greece: cultural causes and environmental effects. In: Halstead P, Frederick C (eds) Landscape and land use in postglacial Greece. Sheffield Academic, Sheffield, pp 110–128

    Google Scholar 

  • Halstead P (2006) Sheep in the garden: the integration of crop and livestock husbandry in early farming regimes of Greece and Southern Europe. In: Serjeantson D, Field D (eds) Animals in the Neolithic of Britain and Europe. Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp 42–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Hellmund M (2008) The Neolithic records of Onopordum acanthium, Agrostemma githago, Adonis cf. aestivalis and Claviceps purpurea in Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany. Veget Hist Archaeobot 17(suppl 1):S123–S130

    Google Scholar 

  • Hillman G (1981) Reconstructing crop husbandry practices from charred remains of crops. In: Mercer R (ed) Farming practice in British prehistory. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, pp 123–162

    Google Scholar 

  • Hillman G (1984) Interpretation of archaeological plant remains. The application of ethnographic models from Turkey. In: Van Zeist W, Casparie WA (eds) Plants and ancient man. Balkema, Rotterdam, pp 1–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Hillman G (1985) Traditional husbandry and processing of archaic cereals in recent times: the operations, products and equipment which might feature in Sumerian texts, part II, the free-threshing cereals. Bull Sumarian Agric 2:1–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopf M (1964) Untersuchung der Getreidereste im Hüttenlehm aus Danilo. In: Korošec J (ed) Danilo in danilska kultura. Univerzitetna založba, Ljubljana, pp 107–108

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopf M (1974) Pflanzenreste aus Siedlungen der Vinča-Kultur in Jugoslawien. Jb RGZM Mainz 21:1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Hubbard RNLB, Al Azm A (1990) Quantifying preservation and distortion in carbonized seeds and investigating the history of friké production. J Archaeol Sci 17:103–106

    Google Scholar 

  • Ibáñez JJ, Conte IC, Gassin B, Gibaja JF, Urquijo JG, Márquez B, Philibert S, Rodriguez AR (2009) Harvesting technology during the Neolithic in South–West Europe. In: Lango L, Skakun N (eds) Prehistoric technology 40 years later. BAR international series 1783, Archaeopress, Oxford, pp 183–195

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacomet S (2008) Subsistenz und Landnutzung während des 3. Jahrtausends v. Chr. aufgrund von archäobotanischen Daten aus dem südwestlichen Mitteleuropa. In: Dörfler W, Müller J (eds) Umwelt-Wirtschaft-Siedlungen im dritten vorchristlichen Jahrtausend Mitteleuropas und Südskandinaviens (Offa-Bücher 84). Wachholz, Neumünster, pp 355–377

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacomet S, Brombacher C, Dick M (1989) Archäobotanik am Zürichsee. Ackerbau, Sammelwirtschaft und Umwelt von neolithischen und bronzezeitlichen Seeufersiedlungen im Raum Zürich. Ergebnisse von Untersuchungen pflanzlicher Makroreste der Jahre 1979–1988 (Ber Zürcher Denkmalpfl, Monographien 7). Orell Füssli, Zürich

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones G (1984) Interpretation of archaeological plant remains: ethnographic models from Greece. In: Van Zeist W, Casparie WA (eds) Plants and ancient man. Studies in palaeoethnobotany. Balkema, Rotterdam, pp 43–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones G, Halstead P (1995) Maslins, mixtures and monocrops: on the interpretation of archaeobotanical crop samples of heterogeneous composition. J Archaeol Sci 22:103–114

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones G, Valamoti S, Charles M (2000) Early crop diversity: a “new” glume wheat from northern Greece. Veget Hist Archaeobot 9:133–146

    Google Scholar 

  • Karg S, Müller J (1990) Neolithische Getreidefunde aus Pokrovnik, Dalmatien. Archäol Korrbl 20:373–386

    Google Scholar 

  • Kenéz Á, Malatinszky Á, Peto Á (2014a) The first archaeobotanical evidence of Dasypyrum villosum in Hungary: an archaeophyte weed or a native grass? Veget Hist Archaeobot 23:841–849

    Google Scholar 

  • Kenéz Á, Pető Á, Gyulai F (2014b) Evidence of ‘new glume wheat’ from the Late Neolithic (Copper Age) of south-eastern Hungary (4th millennium cal bc). Veget Hist Archaeobot 23:551–566

    Google Scholar 

  • Kliškić D (2006) Turska Peć. In: Mesić J (ed) Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak, vol 3. Ministarstvo kulture, Zagreb, pp 447–450

    Google Scholar 

  • Kliškić D (2007) Turska Peć. In: Blanda M (ed) Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak, vol 4. Ministarstvo kulture, Zagreb, pp 534–536

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohler-Schneider M (2003) Contents of a storage pit from Late Bronze Age Stillfried, Austria: another record of the “new” glume wheat. Veget Hist Archaeobot 12:105–111

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohler-Schneider M, Caneppele A (2009) Late Neolithic agriculture in eastern Austria: archaeobotanical results from sites of the Baden and Jevisovice cultures (3600–2800 bc). Veget Hist Archaeobot 18:61–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Komšo D (2005) Kargadur. In: Mesić J (ed) Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak, vol 2. Ministarstvo Kulture, Zagreb, pp 212–214

    Google Scholar 

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

    Google Scholar 

  • Kreuz A (2012) Die Vertreibung aus dem Paradies? Archäobiologische Ergebnisse zum Frühneolithikum im westlichen Mitteleuropa. Ber RGK 91: 23–196

    Google Scholar 

  • Kreuz A, Boenke N (2002) The presence of two-grained einkorn at the time of the Bandkeramik culture. Veget Hist Archaeobot 11:233–240

    Google Scholar 

  • Kreuz A, Schäfer E (2011) Weed finds as indicators for the cultivation regime of the Early Neolithic Bandkeramik culture? Veget Hist Archaeobot 20:333–348

    Google Scholar 

  • Kroll H (1992) Einkorn from Feudvar, Vojvodina, II. What is the difference between emmer-like two-seeded einkorn and emmer? Rev Palaeobot Palynol 73:181–185

    Google Scholar 

  • Krznarić Škrivanko M (2000) Četvrta sezona sustavnog istraživanja gradine Sopot (Fourth season of excavations at Sopot, in Croatian). Obavijesti HAD 32:49–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Krznarić Škrivanko M (2003) Neki naseobinski pokazatelji na eponimnom lokalitetu sopotske kulture (Some habitation indicators at the eponymous Sopot culture site, in Croatian). Opvscvla Archaeologica 27:63–69

    Google Scholar 

  • Krznarić Škrivanko M (2011) Radiokarbonski datumi uzoraka sa Sopota (Radiocarbon dating samples from Sopot, in Croatian). In: Botić K, Kovačević S, Dizdar D (eds) Panonski prapovijesni osviti: Zbornik radova posvećenih Korneliji Minichreiter uz 65. Obljetnicu života. Institut za arheologiju, Zagreb, pp 209–226

    Google Scholar 

  • Kučan D (2009) Preliminarni izvještaj o ispitivanjima ugljenisanih biljnih ostataka na kasnoneolitskom naselju okolište (Preliminary report on tests of charred plant remains in the late Neolithic settlement Okolište, in Bosnian). In: Hofmann R, Kujundžic-Vejzagic Z, Müller J, Rassmann K, Müller-Scheeßel N (eds) Rekonstrukcija procesa naseljavanja u kasnom neolitu na prostoru centralne Bosne. Glasnik Zemaljskog muzeja Bosne i Hercegovine u Sarajevu 50/51:127–131

  • Legge T, Moore AMT (2011) Clutching at straw: the Early Neolithic and the dispersal of agriculture. In: Hadjikoumis A, Robinson E, Viner S (eds) The dynamics of Neolithisation in Europe: studies in honour of Andrew Sherratt. Oxbow, Oxford, pp 176–195

    Google Scholar 

  • Marijanović B (2007) Neka pitanja ranog neolitika istočnog Jadrana (Some questions about the early Neolithic Eastern Adriatic, in Croatian). Archaeologia Adriatica 1:7–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Marijanović B (2009) Crno Vrilo 1. Sveučilište u Zadru, Zadar

    Google Scholar 

  • Marinova E (2007) Archaeobotanical data from the early Neolithic of Bulgaria. In: Colledge S, Conolly J (eds) The origins and spread of domestic plants in southwest Asia and Europe. Left Coast, Walnut Creek, CA, pp 93–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin L (2010) Agriculture et alimentation végétale en milieu montagnard durant le Néolithique: nouvelles donnés carpologiques dans les Alpes françaises du nord. Unpubl. doctoral thesis, IPNA, University of Basel

  • Meurers-Balke J, Lüning J (1992) Some aspects and experiments concerning the processing of glume wheats. In: Anderson PC (ed) Prehistoire de l’Agriculture: nouvelles approches experimentales et ethnographiques (Monographie du CRA 6) Éditions du CNRS, Paris, pp 341–362

    Google Scholar 

  • Mihaljević M (2004) Slavča. In: Mesić J (ed) Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak, vol 1. Ministarstvo Kulture, Zagreb, pp 39–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Mihaljević M (2005) Slavča. In: Mesić J (ed) Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak, vol 2. Ministarstvo Kulture, Zagreb, pp 53–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Mihaljević M (2006) Ravnjaš and Slavča. In: Mesić J (ed) Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak, vol 3. Ministarstvo Kulture, Zagreb, pp 72–73, 75–76

  • Mihaljević M (2007) Ravnjaš and Slavča. In: Blanda M (ed) Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak, vol 4. Ministarstvo Kulture, Zagreb, pp 94–95

    Google Scholar 

  • Mihaljević M (2008) Ravnjaš and Slavča. In: Mesić J (ed) Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak, vol 5. Ministarstvo Kulture, Zagreb, pp 124–127

    Google Scholar 

  • Mihaljević M (2009) Slavča. In: Wiewegh Z (ed) Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak, vol 6. Ministarstvo Kulture, Zagreb, pp 88–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller N, Smart T (1984) Intentional burning of dung as fuel: a mechanism for the incorporation of charred seeds into the archaeological record. J Ethnobiol 4:15–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Minichreiter K (1992) Starčevačka Kultura u Sjevernoj Hrvatskoj. Arheološki zavod Filozofskog fakultea Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb

    Google Scholar 

  • Minichreiter K (2001) The architecture of Early and Middle Neolithic settlements of the Starčevo culture in Northern Croatia. Doc Praehist 28:199–214

    Google Scholar 

  • Minichreiter K, Botić K (2010) Early Neolithic burials of Starčevo culture at Galovo, Slavonski Brod (northern Croatia). Doc Praehist 37:105–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Mlekuž D (2003) Early herders of the Eastern Adriatic. Doc Praehist 30:139–151

    Google Scholar 

  • Mlekuž D (2009) The materiality of dung: the manipulation of dung in Neolithic Mediterranean caves. Doc Praehist 36:219–225

    Google Scholar 

  • Motuzaite-Matuzeviciute G, Staff RA, Hunt HV, Liu X, Jones MK (2013) The early chronology of broomcorn millet (Panicum Miliaceum) in Europe. Antiquity 87:1,073–1,085

    Google Scholar 

  • Obelić B, Horvatinćić N, Bronić IK (2002) Rudjer Boškovic Institute radiocarbon measurements XV. Radiocarbon 44:601–630

    Google Scholar 

  • Orton D (2012) Herding, settlement, and chronology in the Balkan Neolithic. Eur J Archaeol 15:5–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Podrug E (2010) Čista Mala-Velištak: the first three excavation campaigns at a Hvar culture site. Diadora 24:7–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Reed K (2006) Early farming in Dalmatia: preliminary archaeobotanical report on the middle Neolithic site of Danilo. Unpubl. MSc dissertation, Institute of Archaeology, University College London

  • Reed K (2013) Farmers in transition: the archaeobotanical analysis of the Carpathian Basin from the Late Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age (5000–900 BC). Unpubl. doctoral thesis, School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester

  • Reingruber A, Thissen L (2009) Depending on the 14C data: chronological frameworks in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic of southeastern Europe. Radiocarbon 51:751–770

    Google Scholar 

  • Renfrew J (1979) The first farmers of south east Europe. Archaeo-Physika 8:243–265

    Google Scholar 

  • Rösch M (1998) The history of crop and crop weed in south-western Germany from the Neolithic period to modern times, as shown by archaeobotanical evidence. Veget Hist Archaeobot 7:109–125

    Google Scholar 

  • Rottoli M, Castiglioni E (2009) Prehistory of plant growing and collecting in northern Italy, based on seed remains from early Neolithic to the Chalcolithic (c. 5600–2100 cal bc). Veget Hist Archaeobot 18:91–103

    Google Scholar 

  • Rožić LO (2003) Archeological research at Brezovljani in 2003. Cris: J Hist Soc Križevci 5:75–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Sekelj-Ivančan T, Balen J (2006) Prapovijesno naselje Virovitica–Brekinja (Prehistoric settlement of Virovitica–Brekinja, in Croatian). Ann Inst Archaeol 2:67–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Špoljar D (2011) Cijepani litički materijal s prapovijesnog nalazišta Tomašanci-Palača. Unpublished dissertation, Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Zagreb University

  • Stevens CJ (2003) An investigation of agricultural consumption and production models for prehistoric and Roman Britain. Environ Archaeol 8:61–76

    Google Scholar 

  • Stokes P, Rowley-Conwy P (2002) Iron Age cultigen? Experimental return rates for fat hen (Chenopodium album L.). Environ Archaeol 7:95–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Tolar T, Jacomet S, Velušček A, Čufar K (2011) Plant economy at a late Neolithic lake dwelling site in Slovenia at the time of the Alpine Iceman. Veget Hist Archaeobot 20:207–222

    Google Scholar 

  • Tringham R (2000) Southeastern Europe in the transition to agriculture in Europe: bridge, buffer or mosaic. In: Price TD (ed) Europe’s first farmers. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 19–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Tringham R, Brukner B, Kaiser T, Borojević K, Bukvić L, Steli P, Russell N, Stevanović M, Voytek B (1992) Excavations at Opovo, 1985–1987: socioeconomic change in the Balkan Neolithic. J Field Archaeol 19:351–386

    Google Scholar 

  • Tutin TG, Heywood VH, Burges NA, Moore DM, Valentine DH, Walters SM, Webb DA (1964–1980) Flora Europaea (vols 1–5). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

  • Vaiglova P, Bogaard A, Collins M, Cavanagh W, Mee C, Renard J, Lamb A, Gardeisen A, Fraser R (2014) An integrated stable isotope study of plants and animals from Kouphovouno, southern Greece: a new look at Neolithic farming. J Archaeol Sci 42:201–215

    Google Scholar 

  • Valamoti SM (2004) Plants and people in late Neolithic and early Bronze Age northern Greece. BAR international series 1258. Archeopress, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Valamoti SM, Charles M (2005) Distinguishing food from fodder through the study of charred plant remains: an experimental approach to dung-derived chaff. Veget Hist Archaeobot 14:528–533

    Google Scholar 

  • Valamoti SM, Jones G (2003) Plant diversity and storage at Mandalo, Macedonia, Greece: archaeobotanical evidence from the Final Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. Ann Brit School Athens 98:1–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Veen M (1992) Crop husbandry regimes: an archaeobotanical study of farming in northern England 1000 bc–ad 500. Collis, Sheffield

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Veen M (1995) The identification of maslin crops. In: Kroll H, Pasternak R (eds) Res archaeobotanicae. Oetker-Voges, Kiel, pp 335–343

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Veen M (2007) Formation processes of desiccated and carbonized plant remains—the identification of routine practice. J Archaeol Sci 34:968–990

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Veen M, Jones G (2006) A re-analysis of agricultural production and consumption: implications for understanding the British Iron Age. Veget Hist Archaeobot 15:217–228

    Google Scholar 

  • Vlachos D (2003) Who did it? Perspectives on the beginning of the Neolithic in Greece. Doc Praehist 30:131–137

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallace M, Charles M (2013) What goes in doesn’t always come out: the impact of ruminant digestion on plant material and its importance for the interpretation of dung-derived archaeobotanical assemblages. Environ Archaeol 18:18–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson DG (1984) The carbonisation of weed seeds and their representation in macrofossil assemblages. In: Van Zeist W, Casparie W (eds) Plants and ancient man. Balkema, Groningen, pp 201–206

    Google Scholar 

  • Xhuveli L, Schultze-Motel J (1995) Neolithic cultivated plants from Albania. Veget Hist Archaeobot 4:245–248

    Google Scholar 

  • Yan Y, Hsam SLK, Yu JZ, Jiang Y, Ohtsuka I, Zeller FJ (2003) HMW and LMW glutenin alleles among putative tetraploid and hexaploid European spelt wheat (Triticum spelta L.) progenitors. Theor Appl Genetic 107:1,321–1,330

    Google Scholar 

  • Zohary D (1996) The mode of domestication of the founder crops of Southwest Asian agriculture. In: Harris D (ed) The origins 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: the origin and spread of domesticated plants in south-west Asia, Europe, and the Mediterranean Basin. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

This research was partially funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. I wish to thank Jacqueline Balen, Emil Podrug, Maja Krznarić Škrivanko, Hrvoje Vulić, Marija Mihaljević, Lana Okroša Rožić and Damir Kliškić for allowing me to collect and use their archaeobotanical material. Many thanks to Sue College and Marijke van der Veen for their helpful advice while undertaking my PhD and the Departments of Archaeology at University College London and the University of Leicester for allowing me to use their reference collections. Thanks to Kalin Dragnevski (LIMA, Oxford University) and Richard Duffin for their valuable help and advice while I attempted to take images of the plant remains. I also wish to thank Stefanie Jacomet, Felix Bittmann and the two anonymous referees who provided valuable comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Engineering, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PJ, UK

    Kelly Reed

Authors
  1. Kelly Reed
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kelly Reed.

Additional information

Communicated by S. Jacomet.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Reed, K. From the field to the hearth: plant remains from Neolithic Croatia (ca. 6000–4000 cal bc). Veget Hist Archaeobot 24, 601–619 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-015-0513-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-015-0513-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation