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OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 06/06/2013, SPi chapter 19 plant cultivation in the bronze age h ans-peter s tika and a ndreas g . h eiss Introduction For millennia, cultivated (or, to be more precise, domesticated) plants have been the main foundation of human nutrition. In Europe, this is true since the Neolithic introduction of a set of several cultivated crops from the ‘Fertile Crescent’ in the Near East and the accompanying cultural techniques involved in their cultivation, processing, and consumption. Investigating these present and past interactions of domesticated crop plants with environmental and cultural factors is one of the central questions when researching human history and prehistory. Several compilations on crop cultivation and plant use as staple food exist for diff erent regions of Bronze Age Europe. Of the supraregional studies, one especially well- known publication should be emphasized: Progress in Old World Palaeoethnobotany: A Retro- spective View on the Occasion of 20 Years of International Work Group for Palaeoethnobotany ( Van Zeist, Wasylikowa, and Behre 1991 ). Twenty years later, we are trying to face the same challenge of compiling data on crop cultivation. Apart from basing ourselves on updated knowledge in archaeobotany, the main diff erence between the current study and the approach followed in Van Zeist et al . is the use of a semi-quantitative approach, in contrast to mere presence-absence data or a coarse estimation of dominance. Another important change is the refer- ral to site representativeness and thus to the reliability of the conclusions drawn. Our goal, however, is to assess both the regional dominance and the general importance of certain crops in Bronze Age Europe, and to assess the representativeness of the extant data used in the study. Methods A problem with the term ‘Bronze Age’ in an overview of Europe is that it is used in diff erent ways for diff erent parts of the period across Europe, with diff erent durations and varying subdivisions. Th erefore we have limited ourselves to rough regional classifi cations of Early, OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 06/06/2013, SPi plant cultivation in the bronze age 349 Middle, and Late Bronze Age following the chronology compiled in Von Schnurbein (2 009: 240). A handicap is that although large numbers of publications are available for most regions in Europe, the habit of publishing tables containing raw data is clearly still not mandatory in archaeobotany. Th us, several regions of Europe either could not be included in our synopsis, or are represented by weaker supporting data than the intensive research carried out by local colleagues would suggest, or could otherwise enable. In total, the data from 229 sites have been integrated into our study. (On the full record of literature used, see Note) Th e spectrum of plants included in the current study primarily covers the three main groups of cultivated crops most important for nutrition: 1. cereals; 2. legumes and pulses; 3. oilseeds. Cereals (grasses of the Poaceae family) are the main contributors to human daily calorie intake. Legumes or pulses (Fabaceae family) also provide, apart from their calorie content, essential amino acids. Oilseeds, from diff erent plant families, provide essential fatty acids crucial for human metabolism and hormonal balance. Th e most important ones in prehistory were fl ax ( Linum usitatissimum ), hemp (C annabis sativa ), gold-of-pleasure (C amelina sativa ), and opium poppy ( Papaver somniferum). Apart from their use as a source of vegeta- ble fat, many of these oilseeds are also multifunctional plants used, for example, in fi bres (fl ax, hemp) or as narcotics (hemp, poppy). In addition to these three main groups, cultivated fruit were also included, as past studies (e.g. Kroll 1991a : 166) have shown that the beginnings of the cultivation of these plants lie in the Bronze Age. In devising a means of data evaluation, the question was how to deal with the diff erent archaeological contexts, and the diff erent states of preservation of plant remains, and how to maintain comparability across all these data. We decided to evaluate all available sites in a region with a weighted, semi-quantitative approach that respects both the presence of a taxon and its relative quantity per site (i.e. dominance), the total quantity of plant material recovered from a site, and the number of samples analysed. In this way the representativeness of the dominances observed in particular sites could be assessed. Occurrences of cultivated plants were extracted from the extant archaeobotanical and archaeological literature from across Europe. Only publications with raw data were included in the survey. Seed/fruit counts of charred, subfossil, and mineralized fi nds of seeds or fruits of cultivated taxa were recorded per site. (For further details about the way in which the data were evaluated see Note.) Regional Overviews Continental and Northern Greece, and Southern Bulgaria In this overview we have combined the data from northern Greece and southern Bulgaria because these regions show a comparable agricultural development and are ecologically close. In spite of the fact that the data available to us from this region only covers 15 sites, the R epresentativeness Index (RI) reaches the highest levels in our study, both for cereals and non-cereals. Th e mainly diachronic tell sites were excavated with large series of samples producing high numbers of fi nds. Earlier regional compilations of archaeobotanical results (e.g. Kroll 1991a : 166) already pointed out a certain continuity of the Late Neolithic OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 06/06/2013, SPi 350 hans-peter stika and andreas g. heiss Table 19.1 RI (Representativeness Index) Values of Non-Cereals (Pulses, Oilseeds, and Cultivated Fruit) in the Archaeobotanical Record of Continental and Northern Greece and Southern Bulgaria Plant species EBA MBA LBA Cicer arietinum chickpea 10 6 1 Lathyrus sativus/cicera grass pea 13 11 6 Lens culinaris lentil 39 21 11 Pisum sativum garden pea 10 6 6 Vicia ervilia bitter vetch 78 22 29 Vicia faba fi eld bean 26 11 7 Camelina sativa gold-of-pleasure 10 5 26 Carthamus tinctorius saffl ower 1 Lallemantia sp. lallemantia 13 5 8 Linum usitatissimum fl ax 28 6 5 Papaver somniferum s.l. opium poppy 14 6 10 Cucumis melo melon 1 Ficus carica fi g 49 15 16 Olea europaea (undiff.) olive 1 2 2 Punica granatum pomegranate 1 Vitis vinifera (undiff.) grapevine 25 12 12 agricultural system up to the Middle Bronze Age, while changes become noticeable in the Late Bronze Age. Th e main cereal during the Early and Middle Bronze Age was barley (H ordeum vulgare ). Most remains have been identifi ed as hulled barley ( Hordeum vulgare var. vulgare ), and only a few derived from naked barley (H ordeum vulgare var. nudum ). Besides hulled barley, emmer ( Triticum dicoccum ) and einkorn ( T. monococcum ) were subdominant. Spelt (T . spelta ), free- threshing wheat (T . aestivum/durum/turgidum ), broomcorn millet ( Panicum miliaceum ), and oats (A vena sp.) were recorded, but of minor importance, or in the case of oats of no importance in cultivation terms. From the Neolithic onwards, there are hints of another cereal in Greece: a ‘new type’ of glume wheat with uncertain taxonomic affi liation, probably closely related to Triticum timopheevi Zhuk. (J ones, Valamoti, and Charles 2000 : 140–2). During the Middle Bronze Age species percentages are generally comparable to the Early Bronze Age, although seed counts (and thus representativeness) are noticeably lower. Intensively investigated Late Bronze Age fi nds document a change in cereal cultivation observable in a marked decrease in barley and a smaller one in emmer, in favour of increasing values of broomcorn millet and spelt. As with the cereals, the non-cereals records for northern Greece and southern Bulgaria exceed all other regions covered in our study in terms of fi nd numbers, diversity, and representativeness (Table 19.1). For the Early Bronze Age the Representativeness Index of non- cereals (RI = 317) is even higher than that of cereals (RI = 248). Th is clearly indicates the importance of non-cereals in cultivation and consumption, mainly deriving from fi nds of OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 06/06/2013, SPi plant cultivation in the bronze age 351 pulses (RI = 176). Th e same is true for the Middle and Late Bronze Age, with the importance of cereals slightly rising towards the Late Bronze Age. Th e dominant pulses are bitter vetch ( Vicia ervilia ) and lentil ( Lens culinaris ), followed by fi eld bean (V icia faba ). Grass pea (L ath- yrus sativus/cicera ), garden pea (P isum sativum ), and chickpea ( Cicer arietinum ) are of less importance. However, the spectrum of pulses does not display any clearly detectable shift between the diff erent Bronze Age periods. Oilseeds are also very diverse. For the Early and Middle Bronze Age, fl ax/linseed, opium poppy, lallemantia ( Lallemantia sp.; s.; Jones and Valamoti 2005 ), gold-of-pleasure, and a single fi nd of saffl ower (C arthamus tinctorius ) are recorded. Towards the Late Bronze Age, gold- of-pleasure rises in importance whereas the others decrease (or go missing altogether, as in saffl ower). Remains of cultivated fruit are dominated by woody plants: fi g ( Ficus carica ) is dominant, while grape ( Vitis vinifera ) is subdominant, and a few fi nds of olive (O lea europaea ) occur. Also single records of pomegranate ( Punica granatum ) and melon (C ucumis melo ) from Tiryns ( Kroll 1982 : 470, Table 1) are displayed in Table 19.1. In accordance with prior investigations, it seems indeed that fruit (mainly fruit tree) cultivation rose during the Bronze Age in the eastern Mediterranean ( Zohary and Hopf 2000 : 142–5). Certain aspects, such as oil production from olives, seem however to have been introduced to Europe, and even to the Aegean, aft er the Bronze Age ( Riehl 1999 : 62–3). Th e earliest evidence for the production of olive oil comes from a non-European site: Early Bronze Age Tel Yarmouth, Israel, in the Levant ( Salavert 2008 : 59–60). C entral and Northern Italy (South of the Alps) In a former compilation of crops for Italy ( Hopf 1991 : 243–50), emmer was judged as being prevalent, and naked wheat as almost equally frequent. In the current compilation for the Early and Middle Bronze Age, emmer is still the dominant cereal. But barley is subdominant, together with free-threshing wheat and einkorn. However, this change may result mainly from new archaeobotanical research in the region carried out over the last 20 years, and the vastly increased amount of data provided by the research centres in Como, Modena, Flor- ence, and Rome. Th e representativeness for cereal remains is, however, still low for the Early Bronze Age (RI = 14), moderate for the Middle Bronze Age (RI = 125), and low for the Late Bronze Age (RI = 62). Th e presence of broomcorn millet and foxtail millet ( Setaria italica ) is reported, and spelt is represented by the weakest count (RI = 1) for the region. During the Late Bronze Age, the dominance of emmer persists, as well as the subdominance of barley. Einkorn decreases and free-threshing wheat is replaced mainly by broomcorn millet. Central and northern Italy (excluding the Alps and their foreland) was clearly a ‘non-spelt’ area, but rather an emmer region, following the main trend of increased millet cultivation in the Late Bronze Age observed in most other regions. A few words need to be said about Sardinia, which is not included in our regional evaluation, and where a compilation by Bakels ( 2002 ) covers the Nuragic culture. Here it seems that the replacement of naked barley by hulled barley took place very late, during the Early Bronze Age, and from the Middle Bronze Age onwards only hulled barley is recorded. Emmer and free-threshing wheat are reported as well, the latter presumably a tetraploid wheat (such as durum wheat) as suggested by the identifi ed rachis fragments (B akels 2 002: 5). OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 06/06/2013, SPi 352 hans-peter stika and andreas g. heiss Table 19.2 RI Values of Non-Cereals in the Archaeobotanical Record of Central and Northern Italy (outside the Alps) Plant species EBA MBA LBA Cicer arietinum chickpea 1 1 Lathyrus sativus/cicera grass pea 2 Lens culinaris lentil 1 2 Pisum sativum garden pea 2 6 Vicia ervilia bitter vetch 4 Vicia faba fi eld bean 28 14 Vicia sativa common vetch 2 1 Linum usitatissimum fl ax 1 Ficus carica fi g 1 Juglans regia walnut 2 Olea europaea (undiff.) olive 1 1 Prunus domestica subsp. i nsititia plum 1 Prunus dulcis almond 1 Sorbus domestica service tree 2 Vitis vinifera (undiff.) grapevine 1 17 9 In the non-cereals, crop diversity is high in Italy, but only two species are well-represented: fi eld bean and grape both in the Early/Middle Bronze Age and the Late Bronze Age. Th e beginning of grape cultivation for the regions of Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna during the Bronze Age has been discussed, but so far there is no confi rmation for this hypothesis ( Bellini et al . 2008 : 108–9). Other pulses are recorded at low counts: garden pea, bitter vetch, lentil, grass pea, and chickpea. Bitter vetch, grass pea, and chickpea were found in the Late Bronze Age but are missing in the earlier periods. Linseed is only represented by two seeds (from Castellaro del Vhò: R ottoli 1 997) from the Middle Bronze Age. Apart from grapes, fruit trees are weakly represented by olive, fi g, and almond (P runus dulcis ) during the Early and Middle Bronze Age (Table 19.2). For the Late Bronze Age, plum ( Prunus domestica subsp. insititia ) is documented. Southern France Eleven sites in this region contribute to the evaluation of crop fi nds. Sites from the Early Bronze Age are absent, and the Middle Bronze Age is weakly documented (RI = 38). Th e Late Bronze Age again shows moderate representativeness (RI = 115). During the Middle Bronze Age, barley and free-threshing wheat are dominant at comparably high levels, and emmer and einkorn are subdominant. Other cereals are missing. In the Middle Bronze Age, the shift from naked barley to hulled barley is nearly complete in this region, with naked barley fi nds absent during the Late Bronze Age. In contrast to the continuously dominant hulled barley and subdominant emmer and einkorn during the Late Bronze Age, free-threshing wheat decreases from dominant to subdominant in this period. Spelt and oats as well as broomcorn OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 06/06/2013, SPi plant cultivation in the bronze age 353 Table 19.3 RI Values of Non-Cereals in the Archaeobotanical Record of Southern France Plant species EBA MBA LBA Lathyrus sativus/cicera grass pea 1 11 Vicia ervilia bitter vetch 2 Vicia faba fi eld bean 1 10 Linum usitatissimum fl ax 2 Papaver somniferum s.l. opium poppy 6 Olea europaea (undiff.) olive 1 Vitis vinifera (undiff.) grapevine 1 millet and foxtail millet appear in the Late Bronze Age. Th eir high representativeness values are mainly based on two sites ( Bouby, Fages, and Treff ort 2005 ): one at Baume Layrou, Gard, was a storage fi nd mainly consisting of hulled barley, spelt, and broomcorn millet, while Balme Gontran resulted in two nearly pure fi nds of stored spelt and broomcorn millet. For non-cereals the Middle Bronze Age sites were not productive; only single counts for the pulses fi eld bean and grass pea and the fruit tree olive were noted. During the Late Bronze Age, non-cereals are better represented both by grass pea and fi eld bean, and in addition some bitter vetch (Table 19.3). Few counts of the oil seeds, poppy, and linseed, as well as grape are reported from Late Bronze Age contexts. General trends are pointed out by the available publications, but the data basis is still weak for this region. Mediterranean Spain Th e 15 sites that have entered our evaluation mainly cover the Middle Bronze Age (RI = 196) and the Late Bronze Age (RI = 106) with high and moderate representativeness indices, while the Early Bronze Age (RI = 36) is only weakly represented. Across the whole Bronze Age, barley remains the main cereal. A remarkable observation is that about half of the counts derive from naked barley and half from hulled barley. Consequently, the shift from naked to hulled barley, noticeable in most other regions, seems not to have taken place in Mediterra- nean Spain. In the Early and Middle Bronze Age, free-threshing wheat is subdominant whereas emmer, einkorn, broomcorn millet, and (most probably non-cultivated) oats appear with few or single counts. Indicated by few but well-preserved rachis fragments from Fuente Álamo ( Stika 2001 : 271–2), both tetraploid and hexaploid free-threshing wheats are documented for southern Spain. Towards the Late Bronze Age, free-threshing wheat decreases while emmer increases; our study does not show any increase of millets as observed in most other regions. However, the site of Masada de Ratón (Fraga, Baix Cinca), situated inland in north-eastern Spain, must be men- tioned before reaching conclusions. Th e site was not included in our evaluation because the relevant samples are ambiguously dated as Middle/Late Bronze Age ( Alonso i Martínez 1999 : 109–14). Yet in Masada de Ratón both foxtail millet and broomcorn millet are reported—foxtail millet with 485 fi nds (RI = 2) and broomcorn millet with 66 fi nds (RI = 1). So the evidence OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 06/06/2013, SPi 354 hans-peter stika and andreas g. heiss Table 19.4 RI Values of Non-Cereals in the Archaeobotanical Record of Mediterranean Spain Plant species EBA MBA LBA Lens culinaris lentil 3 Pisum sativum garden pea 8 4 Vicia ervilia bitter vetch 1 Vicia faba fi eld bean 3 11 10 Linum usitatissimum fl ax 4 8 5 Papaver somniferum s.l. opium poppy 2 4 Castanea sativa sweet chestnut 1 Ficus carica fi g 4 10 30 Olea europaea (undiff.) olive 1 9 5 Phoenix dactylifera date 1 Vitis vinifera (undiff.) grapevine 8 6 seems to show a dramatically delayed spread of millets to the Iberian Peninsula in the Bronze Age by comparison with other regions in Europe (continental Greece and southern Bulgaria, the Pannonian Plains, Italy, the Alps, and western central Europe). Spelt arrived even later (several authors cited in Buxó i Capdevila 1997 : 104). Th e non-cereals from Mediterranean Spain (Table 19.4) display a high diversity. During the Early and Middle Bronze Age, fi eld bean dominates the pulses, followed by garden pea, lentil, and bitter vetch. Oil plants are represented by fi nds of linseed and opium poppy, whereas among fruit trees fi g, olive, and grape are recorded. Towards the Late Bronze Age, the pulse spectrum is reduced to fi eld bean and pea. Again, linseed and poppy are found. Records of fi g increase while olive and grape remain at the same level. For two sites in the province of Almería in Andalucía (Gatas and Fuente Álamo) there are unpublished data with further fi nds of grape pips ( Stika 1 996a; 2003 ) , which are not included in the recent study. So the question when fruit-tree cultivation started in Spain is still unanswered. Rodríguez-Ariza and Montes Moya ( 2005) reviewed the origin and domestication of Olea europaea L. (olive) in Andalucía, Spain, by assessing charcoal and fruit data. For Mesomedi- terranean altitudes it seems to be clear that cultivation appeared no earlier than the Roman period. But at the Th ermomediterranean level, where several sites included in our study are situated, the possible use of wild olive or even its cultivation during the Bronze Age still needs assessment. Pannonian Basin An earlier compilation ( Wasylikowa et al. 1991 : 214–17) covered the Pannonian Basin and gave a fi rst impression about Bronze Age cereal cultivation, with einkorn, emmer, and hulled barley as the most important cereals in 25 analysed sites. For our new compilation, 46 sites were evaluated. Representativeness of archaeobotanical data is low for the Early Bronze Age (RI = 60), very high for the Middle Bronze Age (RI = 548), and high for the Late Bronze Age (RI = 264). OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 06/06/2013, SPi plant cultivation in the bronze age 355 In accordance with the study by Wasylikowa et al. ( 1991 : 215), the current data show that during the Early and Middle Bronze Age the three main cereals are hulled barley, einkorn, and emmer. Barley is also documented in its free-threshing (naked) variety, but to a low extent. Free-threshing wheat appears in some sites, more precisely identifi ed as club wheat ( T. com- pactum ), and therefore subsumed in T riticum aestivum s.l. in the diagrams presented online, and spelt and broomcorn millet were recorded with few counts. Th e taxa rye (S ecale cereale ) and oats, most probably still non-domesticated, appeared with single counts. For the Late Bronze Age we recognize a change to four main cereals: broomcorn millet, hulled barley, emmer, and einkorn. While barley and einkorn decrease, broomcorn millet increases remarkably towards the Late Bronze Age. Spelt increases slightly, and free-threshing wheat keeps approximately the same proportion in the spectrum of cultivated crops. Foxtail millet was introduced to the area but was of low importance. For the Bronze Age Pannonian Basin, the ‘new type’ glume wheat is reported ( Kohler-Schneider 2001 : 116–25; Stika and Berzsényi forth- coming). No calculation of the importance of this taxon on the basis of grains can yet be given because identifi cation criteria for the grains are still not available (and they have to remain unidentifi able for the moment)—in contrast to the glume bases/spikelet forks which are well- identifi able since the articles by Glynis Jones et al. ( 2000 : 134–6) and Marianne Kohler- Schneider ( 2001 : 116–25). For Stillfried an der March ( Kohler-Schneider 2001 : 180), it was possible to successfully identify rye brome (B romus secalinus ) grains as an important compo- nent in a porridge-like cereal preparation (‘Hirsotto’). Th e diversity of pulses and oil plants is high in the region (Table 19.5). In the Early Bronze Age and Middle Bronze Age, lentil and pea are the main pulses, while subdominant ones are bitter vetch and fi eld bean. Grass pea and common vetch (V icia sativa ) are recorded but are of less importance. Towards the Late Bronze Age conditions are similar, with slightly increased amounts of bitter vetch, but common vetch is now missing. In Early Bronze Age and Middle Bronze Age contexts, gold-of-pleasure, saffl ower, poppy, and linseed are documented, while Table 19.5 RI Values of Non-Cereals in the Archaeobotanical Record of the Pannonian Basin Plant species EBA MBA LBA Lathyrus sativus/cicera grass pea 4 1 Lens culinaris lentil 2 50 14 Pisum sativum garden pea 2 40 12 Vicia ervilia bitter vetch 20 14 Vicia faba fi eld bean 1 10 4 Vicia sativa common vetch 1 Camelina sativa gold-of-pleasure 1 16 6 Carthamus tinctorius saffl ower 11 Linum usitatissimum fl ax 14 Papaver somniferum s.l. opium poppy 5 4 Cucumis sativus cucumber 1 Vitis vinifera (undiff.) grapevine 2 7 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 06/06/2013, SPi 356 hans-peter stika and andreas g. heiss the Late Bronze Age saw a reduction in gold-of-pleasure and poppy. Fruit trees are represented by fi nds of grape pips which might have been collected from the wild stands in the fl oodplains of the Danube. Eastern Alps and their Foreland Th is region is limited to the west by an imaginary line formed by the Alpine part of the River Rhine, the Splügen pass, and Lake Como. Twenty-seven sites are in our compilation, producing a well-balanced representativeness for the three main Bronze Age phases: Early Bronze Age (RI = 101), Middle Bronze Age (RI = 135), and Late Bronze Age (RI = 279). Dur- ing the Early Bronze Age and Middle Bronze Age, barley was the dominant cereal mainly represented by its hulled variety, but free-threshing barley is recorded as well. Emmer and spelt are subdominant, followed by einkorn and free-threshing wheat. Broomcorn millet, rye, and oats are listed with only a few counts. Towards the Late Bronze Age, broomcorn millet increases remarkably while barley decreases. An earlier investigation ( Küster 1991 : 183) claimed that a complete change of the spectrum of cultural plants for this period could be detected. Our study, however, suggests otherwise: for the Late Bronze Age, barley, emmer, and broomcorn millet are recorded as the main cereals, with subdominant spelt and einkorn. On current data, the main changes refer to only two cereal taxa: parts of the barley production are replaced by broomcorn millet. A mixed fi nd of mainly stored emmer and rye brome grains, along with low numbers of other weed fi nds, at the mountain site of Kulm, Trofaiach ( Stika 2000 : 165–7), suggests the cultivation of rye brome for its grains at higher elevations. For the non-cereals (Table 19.6), pulses are important and are recorded with moderate representativeness especially for the Late Bronze Age (RI = 90), with low scores for the Early and Middle Bronze Age (RI = 44). In the Early/Middle Bronze Age, garden pea is dominant with few counts for fi eld bean and lentil. Towards the Late Bronze Age, pulses become even more important with garden pea still being dominant, but now with a subdominance of fi eld bean and lentil. Additionally, there are a few counts of bitter vetch. Th e oil plants poppy, gold- of-pleasure, and linseed are present with single counts, as is grape. Table 19.6 RI Values of Non-Cereals in the Archaeobotanical Record of the Eastern Alps and their Foreland Plant species EBA MBA LBA Lens culinaris lentil 4 26 Pisum sativum garden pea 12 24 33 Vicia ervilia bitter vetch 6 Vicia faba fi eld bean 1 3 25 Camelina sativa gold-of-pleasure 2 Linum usitatissimum fl ax 1 Papaver somniferum s.l. opium poppy 2 2 2 Vitis vinifera (undiff.) grapevine 3 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 06/06/2013, SPi plant cultivation in the bronze age 357 Table 19.7 RI Values of Non-Cereals in the Archaeobotanical Record of the Western Alps and their Foreland Plant species EBA MBA LBA Lathyrus sativus/cicera grass pea 2 Lens culinaris lentil 32 Pisum sativum garden pea 4 1 15 Vicia faba fi eld bean 2 8 37 Camelina sativa gold-of-pleasure 10 Linum usitatissimum fl ax 5 2 24 Papaver somniferum s.l. opium poppy 1 52 Castanea sativa sweet chestnut 1 Vitis vinifera (undiff.) grapevine 1 Western Alps and their Foreland Th is region is extremely well represented for the Late Bronze Age, especially due to the well- investigated lakeside settlements with huge quantities of plant fi nds: Early Bronze Age (RI = 88), Middle Bronze Age (RI = 157), and Late Bronze Age (RI = 556). Twenty-four sites were evaluated in total. For the Early/Middle Bronze Age, three main cereals are reported: barley being dominant, emmer, and spelt subdominant. Free-threshing wheat and einkorn are frequently reported but of little importance. For broomcorn millet and oats only few counts and a single count for rye are given. In the Late Bronze Age, broomcorn millet increased and foxtail millet becomes important, arriving at its highest representativeness for all evaluated regions in this study. Barley and emmer decrease during the Late Bronze Age. Free-threshing wheat is still frequently represented, both tetraploid and hexaploid naked wheats being determined from rachis fragments (e.g. Jacomet and Karg 1996 : 235). In Zug-Sumpf, spelt is quite important with 19 storage fi nds (a total of 68 storage fi nds from that site), but nevertheless hulled barley is the dominant cereal there ( Jacomet and Karg 1996 : 228–9). At the Late Bronze Age lakeside settlement of Hagnau-Burg on Lake Constance ( Rösch 1996 : Tab.le 1), three spikelets of oats were found and determined as common (i.e. cultivated) oats (A vena sativa ). For the Early/Middle Bronze Age the non-cereals (Table 19.7) are represented mainly by pulses, with a dominance of fi eld bean and a subdominance of garden pea, and fi nds of linseed and opium poppy. Towards the Late Bronze Age, the representativeness rises considerably with fi eld bean and lentil being dominant and garden pea being subdominant. Grass pea is represented with two counts only. Th e increased counts of oilseeds (RI = 86) during the Late Bronze Age are dominated by opium poppy with a subdominance of linseed and several counts for gold-of-pleasure. Th e latter is considered a weed in fl ax fi elds ( Jacomet and Karg 1996 : 249). Th e lakeside settlements, with both carbonized and waterlogged preservation conditions, refl ect crop cultivation quite well, for both cereals and non-cereals. West-Central Europe (Outside the Alps) Th is region is quite diverse in terms of environmental setting. Th e sites are mainly located in Baden-Württemberg and Hesse in Germany, and Lorraine in France. Th e lower Rhine region,