“SAPIENZA” UNIVERSITÀ DI ROMADIPARTIMENTO DI SCIENZE DELL’ANTICHITÀ – MUSEO DELLE ORIGINI

ORIGINIPREISTORIA E PROTOSTORIADELLE CIVILTÀ ANTICHE

XXXV2013

PREHISTORY AND PROTOHISTORYOF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION EBOOK /APP:

REUSE OF PREHISTORIC LITHIC IMPLEMENTS IN HISTORICAL TIMES: CASE STUDIES

FROM THE ALBAN HILLS

Flavio Altamura

COOKING, WORKING AND BURYING IN ANCIENT NEOLITHIC: THE OVENS OF

PORTONOVO (MARCHE, ITALY)Cecilia Conati Barbaro

- ESTIMATING FIRING TEMPERATURES OF PYROTECHNOLOGICAL PROCESSES IN THE

NEOLITHIC SITE OF PORTONOVO

Italo M. Muntoni, Grazia Ruggiero

- AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE HUMAN REMAINS FROM THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL

EXCAVATION OF PORTONOVO-FOSSO FONTANACCIA

Paola Catalano, Stefania Di Giannantonio

- BONE COLLAGEN CARBON (δ13C) AND NITROGEN (δ15N) STABLE ISOTOPE ANALYSIS

OF HUMAN AND FAUNAL SAMPLES FROM PORTONOVO

Roberta Lelli

- ANTHRACOLOGICAL REMAINS FROM A NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT IN THE CONERO

NATURAL PARK

Alessandra Celant

- SEM-EDS AND XRF CHARACTERIZATION OF OBSIDIAN BLADELETS FROM PORTONOVO

(AN) TO IDENTIFY RAW MATERIAL PROVENANCE

Pasquale Acquafredda, Italo M. Muntoni, Mauro Pallara

THE EDGE OF THE CITY: URBAN GROWTH AND BURIAL SPACE IN 4TH MILLENNIUM BC

MESOPOTAMIA

Augusta McMahon, Adam Stone

ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCTION AND SOCIAL ROLE OF METALLURGY IN THE

PREHISTORIC SEQUENCE OF ARSLANTEPE (TURKEY)Gian Maria Di Nocera

NARMER, SCORPION AND THE REPRESENTATION OF THE EARLY EGYPTIAN COURT

Jorrit Kelder

Indice / Contents

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BARREL-SHAPED VESSELS IN CONTEXT: A LONG-RANGE MODEL OF DAIRY PRODUCTION

IN EASTERN AND CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN DURING THE LATE FOURTH AND EARLY

THIRD MILLENNIA BC

Massimo Cultraro

THE HUMAN FACTOR IN THE TRANSFORMATION OF SOUTHERN ITALIAN BRONZE AGE

SOCIETIES: AGENCY THEORY AND MARXISM RECONSIDERED

Alberto Cazzella, Giulia Recchia

ACORN GATHERERS: FRUIT STORAGE AND PROCESSING IN SOUTH-EAST ITALY DURING

THE BRONZE AGE

Milena Primavera, Girolamo Fiorentino

Recensioni / Reviews

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XXXV, 2013: 211-227ORIGINI

ABSTRACT – The analysis of archaeobotanical assemblages recovered in recent and older archaeologicalexcavations conducted at several sites in southeastern Italy (Apani, Torre Guaceto - Br; Rocavecchia,Melendugno - Le; Piazza Palmieri, Monopoli - Ba; Scalo di Furno, Porto Cesareo - Le), have revealedthe importance of acorn gathering and use in Bronze Age societies. A number of documentary sourcesdescribe the use of acorns as food, in both human and animal diets, although various other uses havebeen reported (as a tanning agent, medicine and so on). On the other hand the charred acorns fromBronze Age sites examined in this study were associated with domestic fireplaces, being found next togriddles and mixed with other edible plants such as cereals, legumes and other edible tree fruits). Theseobservations suggest they played an important part in protohistoric economies. In order to address the role of oak fruits and to investigate processing methods we conducted biometricanalyses and ethnobotanical comparisons. Data collected during morphometric studies were comparedwith modern acorns in order to identify the specific taxonomy of the archaeological cotyledons. Referenceis made to ethnographic observations in order to decode the archaeological, archaeobotanical andtaphonomical evidence regarding the manner of gathering and processing acorns in Bronze Age societies.

KEYWORDS: Acorn, Apulia, Bronze Age, gatherers.

RIASSUNTO – Durante gli ultimi decenni, le indagini archeobotaniche compiute nei siti dell’etàdel Bronzo della Puglia centro-meridionale hanno consentito di ampliare il panorama diconoscenze dell’ambiente naturale e delle pratiche di sussistenza delle comunità protostoriche.Nuovi dati provenienti da ricerche sistematiche, contribuiscono a delineare alcuni caratteripeculiari di quest’area in cui lo sfruttamento delle risorse arboree, in particolare delle querce,sembra essere sistematico e diretto a scopi alimentari. Numerose sono le fonti documentarie, storiche ed etnografiche, che attestano i diversi usi delleghiande di quercia in varie zone del mondo; tra questi importanti sono i riferimenti allabalanofagia, ossia all’abitudine di consumare le ghiande quale cibo nella dieta umana. Prescindendo dalla documentazione letteraria, è possibile isolare un carattere ricorrente negliassemblaggi archeobotanici in cui la concentrazione di ghiande è alquanto consistente: ossia la lorostretta correlazione con evidenze archeologiche strutturali o con associazioni vegetali specifiche,che rimanda ad un presumibile uso alimentare.Il presente contributo illustra i risultati ottenuti utilizzando l’analisi biometrica dei frutti (antichie moderni) e l’adozione di protocolli sperimentali, tecniche finalizzate all’identificazionetassonomica delle specie, anche sulla base dell’attuale areale di distribuzione delle querce in Puglia.Nel lavoro inoltre l’illustrazione delle catene operative/fasi di processamento utilizzate per rendereedibili le ghiande, definite sulla base di osservazioni etnografiche connesse alle pratiche dibalanofagia, ha avuto come obiettivo quello di decodificare le evidenze archeologiche,archeobotaniche e tafonomiche in grado di attestare lo sfruttamento alimentare delle risorsearboree, in particolare delle ghiande, durante l’Età del Bronzo nella Puglia centro-meridionale.

PAROLE CHIAVE: Ghianda, Puglia, Età del Bronzo, raccoglitori.

ACORN GATHERERS: FRUIT STORAGE AND PROCESSING IN

SOUTH-EAST ITALY DURING THE BRONZE AGE

Milena Primavera*Girolamo Fiorentino*

INTRODUCTION

Over the last few decades, the ar-chaeobotanical investigations conduct-ed at the Bronze Age sites of central-southern Puglia have enhanced ourknowledge of the natural environmentand subsistence farming among proto-historic communities (Fiorentino 1998,2010; Fiorentino et alii 2004; Primaveraet alii in press). New data resulting fromsystematic research conducted at the sitesof Scoglio di Apani (Torre Guaceto-Br),Roca (Melendugno-Le) and Scalo diFurno (Porto Cesareo-Le) have helped todelineate some of the distinctive featuresof this area, where the use of productsfrom trees, particularly oaks, seems tohave been systematic and primarily fornutritional purposes. This hypothesiswas first put forward in connection withthe discovery of a large number of burntacorns at the site of Piazza Palmieri (Mo-nopoli-Ba) (Fiorentino 1995), and themore recent data would appear to ruleout purely occasional collection by pro-tohistoric communities. This was a peri-od in which the gathering of wild fruitsappears to be associated with precise eat-ing habits throughout peninsular Italy(Fiorentino et alii 2004). This led to thedevelopment of tree cultivation practicesin the late Bronze Age and early IronAge, with interesting repercussions onthe ancient landscape and land manage-ment by complex societies (Peroni 1998;Di Fraia 1998; Fiorentino et alii 2004;Zohary, Hopf 2000).

Numerous documentary, historicaland ethnographic sources attest to the

various uses of acorns in many parts ofthe world (Jørgensen 1977; Mason 1992,McCorrison 1994), including extensivereferences to balanophagy1, i.e. the con-sumption of acorns in human diets (Bas-gall 1987; Facciola 1998; Gifford 1936;Homma 1991; Mason 1995; Mason,Nesbitt 2009; Usai 1969). Among theancient sources we shall cite Ovid, who,in the Fasti (IV. 399) attributes to Ceres(who was also said to have introduced ce-reals into the human diet) the replace-ment of human beings’ original food,made up of leaves and wild herbs, withsomething more substantial: acorns.

395 Panis erat primis virides mortali busherbae, quas telluss nullo sollicitantedabat; et modo carpebant vivax e ce-spite gramem, nunc epulae tenerafronde cacumen erant. Postmodoglans nata est: bene erat iam glandereperta,

400 duraque magnificas quercus habebatopes. Prima Ceres homine ad melio-ra alimenta vocato Mutavit glandesutiliore cibo.

The edibility of this fruit depends onits tannin content. Tannins give acornstheir bitter taste and astringent proper-ties; their concentration varies from onespecies to another and reduce or blockthe assimilation of proteins and othernutrients (Chung et alii 1998). Variousprocessing techniques are used to makeacorns edible (Salkova et alii 2011).Leaving aside the literary documenta-tion, a recurring feature in the archaeob-otanical assemblages is the presence of

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1 Strabo wrote of people in Spain who used to eat a type of bread made of acorns for much of the year(Strabo, Geography 3.3.7); Herodotus also speaks of eaters of acorns in reference to Arcadia and the Pelo-ponnese (Herodotus 1.66, translation by Godley, 1946).

acorns in specific contexts and togetherwith other edible plants that indicatethey were used for food. Indeed, in thefour contexts investigated here, the burntacorns, whether they are whole or frag-mentary, hulled or otherwise, are associ-ated with cooking hearths and/or closedcontainers. Alternatively they are foundnext to the remains of other fruits, eithercultivated plants such as Hordeum vul-gare (barley), Triticum monococcum(einkorn wheat), T. dicoccum (emmerwheat) and Vicia faba var. minor (a smallvariety of broad bean), or tree fruits suchas Ficus carica (fig) and Olea europaea(olive). These aspects suggest that acornsplayed more than a marginal role in theeconomy of central-southern Puglia, in aclearly defined chronological phase.

Ethnographic studies of Italy show thatuntil the Second World War, the con-sumption of acorns in the form of “bread”was practised in many areas, includingthe Lazio region around Rome (Guarrera1994), Basilicata (Caneva et alii 1997),Calabria (Pignone, Laghetti 2011), Sar-dinia (Atzei 2003; Usai et alii 2011), theprovince of Lucca (Pieroni 2000) andMaremma (Mearelli, Tardelli 1995).More recent research has shown how inthese “cultural islands”, often mountain-ous areas or places where grazing prevailedover agriculture (Pignone, Laghetti 2011),the memory of the knowledge linked tothe use of this food currently survives on-ly among the older generations (Ham-mer et alii 1992, Laghetti et alii 2008). Inthe light of the traditional knowledge thatis still conserved, it is important to isolatethose aspects that may help to archaeo-logically clarify the real use of acorns inhuman diets and thus determine the roleof this practice in the protohistoric econ-omy of Puglia.

The carpological analysis of the an-cient remains and the adoption of ex-perimental protocols based on modernmaterial served primarily to taxonomi-cally identify the ancient cotyledons, tak-ing account of the distribution of thevarious oak species in Puglia: the bio-metric data for the archaeobotanical re-mains were compared with the data formodern cotyledons, which were subject-ed to controlled combustion in order toidentify the relative species for each ar-chaeological context studied. This aspectis key to establishing their degree ofpalatability and thus their food potential.

Having established that the acornswere from edible species, the contextualcharacteristics of the archaeobotanicalassemblages were compared with the var-ious phases of processing/storage/prepa-ration, determined on the basis of ethno-graphic observations (Mason 1992; Ma-son, Nesbitt 2009; Usai 1969). The ob-jective was to decode the archaeological,archaeobotanical and taphonomic evi-dence in order to establish for each of thestudied sites, the actual nutritional ex-ploitation and degree of processing ofthese arboreal resources.

CULTURAL AND NATURAL BACKGROUND

Acorn gatherers: the Archaeobotanical evi-dence

Chronologically, the remains ofcharred or waterlogged acorns have beendiscovered in contexts from the Palae-olithic to the Middle Ages (Deforce etalii 2009; Mason 1992; Vencl 1985,1996, Renfrew 1966). The most ancientdiscovery was made in Acheulian site ofGesher Benot Ya’aqov, in Israel (Early-

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Middle Pleistocene); acorns and otheredible nuts were found in associationwith pitted hammers and anvils (Goren-Inbar et alii 2002). Other evidence ofacorns gathering in prehistoric Israelcomes from the site of Ohalo, dated to17,000 years BC (Kislev et alii 1992). Inthe earliest agricultural villages of theNear East, the remains of acorns are any-thing but rare; an emblematic example isthe site of Çatal Hüyük, where Helbaek(1964) observed the fruits in relation toa hearth and interpreted the discovery asa clear reference to roasting. In the west-ern Mediterranean, the Tyrrhenian is-lands of Corsica and Sardinia have yield-ed evidence of the use of acorns in thelate Neolithic and throughout the Chal-colithic (Lewthwaite 1982). A strong in-dication that acorns were used in humandiets is provided by the Bronze Age siteof Raskopanitza in Bulgaria. Here theywere associated with cereals (barley andwheat) and were found above a grind-stone, as if they were to be ground to-gether to produce a mixed flour (Ren-frew 1973).

In the Italian peninsula, particularlythe northern area, the remains of acorncotyledons seem to have been wide-spread, though found in small quantities,throughout the Neolithic, with a certaincontinuity in the subsequent phases2.These discoveries become more signifi-cant in the Bronze Age3, although theirvalue should be seen in relation to evi-dence of the contemporary exploitation

of another wild fruit, the drupes of thedogwood Cornus mas, probably used forthe production of fermented drinks(Fiorentino et alii 2004).

In southern Italy, particularly its mosteastern part, the current data show thatthe evidence of the use of acorns is at-tributable exclusively to the Bronze Age,starting from the middle centuries ofthe second millennium BC. The acornsdiscovered at the site of Piazza Palmieri-Monopoli (Fiorentino 1995) are fromtwo distinct levels of occupation butthere are no clear elements with whichto associate them with storage struc-tures. The greatest concentration ofthese fruits (98.6% of the total) is in theAppenninic levels (Mid Bronze Age),characterised by the presence of a circu-lar hearth and a hole for disposing ofashes and charcoal, interpreted as anarea for cooking food (Princigalli 2010).Here the acorns are associated with theremains, albeit in small quantities, ofother food crops such as Hordeum vul-gare (barley), Triticum monococcum(einkorn) and T. dicoccum (emmer). Ingeneral the acorns in the assemblage ofMonopoli are whole or split into singlecotyledons or parts of these, sometimeswith other parts of the fruit such as pe-duncles and small fragments of charredpericarp (Fiorentino 1995). The acornsrecovered from the site of Scoglio diApani are also linked to levels of occu-pation: the cotyledons, fragmented andcombusted, were found near a cooking

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2 For the Early Neolithic: Sammardenchia, Piancada and Lugo di Romagna; for the Mid and Late Ne-olithic: Arene Candide, Casalnoceto, Isolino di Varese, Lagozza di Besnate, Monte Covolo, Palù di Liven-zia, Bannia di Palazzine di Sopra and Maserà; for the Chalcolithic: Monte Covolo, Bressanone-Millan,Meduno (see Rottoli, Castiglioni 2009).

3 For example the Middle Bronze Age levels of Luni sul Mignone (see the note by Hans Helbaeck inÖstenberg 1967 ) and Grotta Misa (see Tongiorgi 1947).

hearth in Hut 2, around which were nu-merous fragments of ceramics, appar-ently belonging to medium-sized closedcontainers (Scarano et alii 2009;Cinquepalmi et alii 2010). The findsfrom Scalo di furno were located insidea small pit; the excavation identifiedchromatic alterations on the walls of thecavity resulting from contact with fire. Aspecial context is that of the acorns ofthe site of Roca: the area was investigat-ed by Area IX, in a sector characterisedby religious ritual throughout the site’soccupation (Primavera 2012). Thecotyledons were intentionally placed,following combustion, in a small votivepit of the late Bronze Age, together withother materials. Although this context isdistinct from the clearly domestic envi-ronments, it is interesting to considerthe association with the other charredbotanical remains deposited at the sametime, which are of species commonlyused in human diets such as emmer,einkorn, barley, beans and figs. In addi-

tion to their religious and symbolicmeaning, this also shows the economicvalue of acorns.

Woodland resources in Puglia during thesecond millennium BC: Palaeoenviron-mental data

Oaks (genus Quercus, family Fagaceae)are one of the most characteristic com-ponents of the modern Mediterraneanlandscape. In Italy, oak forests are par-ticularly important in view of the highnumber of taxa present in the forest un-dergrowth. The Puglia region currentlyhosts more than 10 different species ofoak (fig. 1), whose distribution is deter-mined by climatic and pedological gra-dients (Campanile, Cocca 2005). Inthose areas of the world where the con-sumption of acorns by human beings isethnographically attested, e.g. among thehunter-gather communities of California(Gifford 1936) or in Japan (Homma

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Fig 1 – Distribution of different species of oak in Puglia region.

1991), the taxonomic richness of theQuercus genus is fundamental, since theproductivity of oaks varies from year toyear, and a diversified presence reducesthe probability of adverse factors affect-ing the yield of all the trees at once (Ma-son 1995). The concept of continuity inthe availability of a product is funda-mental in a subsistence economy; thiscontinuity can be ensured not only bythe presence of that genus in the area,but also by its species richness: thegreater the number of species, the greaterthe possibility of gathering fruits even inadverse periods.

The anthracological and pollen dataavailable for Puglia in the second mil-lennium BC paint a rather homogeneouspicture in which the Mediterraneanmaquis vegetation is characterised by thepresence of both deciduous and ever-green oaks (Fiorentino 1998, 2010; Car-oli, Caldara 2006; Di Rita, Magri 2009).The taxonomic resolution of thepalaeobotanical data (anthracologicaland palynological) do not however en-able us to clearly determine the speciesrichness beyond reference to two distinctgroups of oaks: deciduous (Quercus ofthe cerris and robur types) and evergreen(of the ilex type). In addition, the pres-ence of woods of varying degrees of ma-turity seems to be attested by the abun-dance of wild animals that are typical offorest environments such as red deer,boar and roe deer (De Grossi Mazzorin2010). The pollen diagrams of lacustrinesequences from Puglia show that oakforests (both deciduous and evergreen)rapidly recovered after a brief but in-tense dry period at the beginning of the3rd millennium (Caroli, Caldara 2006;Di Rita, Magri 2009). The anthracolog-ical data for the proto-Appenninic and

Appenninic phases indicate a temperateclimate, with deciduous woods and thetypical elements of a humid environ-ment (Fiorentino 1995, 2010). In somecases the woods seem to have extended asfar as the coast, characterised by longstretches of wetland (Boenzi et alii 2004)often exploited by the protohistoric com-munities (Caldara et alii 2003). In themiddle centuries of the second millenni-um the plant coverage declined due to adrier period in which the more xerophileelements of the maquis, including theevergreen oaks, tended to expand (Pri-mavera et alii in press). It is preciselyduring this phase that the acorns aremost abundant in the sites being studi-ed.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Biometric analyses of ancient and modernacorns: comparison of charred material

The fruit of the oak is enclosed in aleathery pericarp (hull), and is ovoid inshape. Inside the pericarp are two valves,called cotyledons, whose external surfaceis marked by more or less evident fibrousvascular bands. The base of the fruit isrounded, and is set in the so-calledcupule, while the apex, inside which isthe radicle, is more or less pointed (fig.2).

From the archaeological point of view,acorns are usually attested by the pres-ence of cotyledons, whole or fragmented.Well-conserved finds are sometimesfound still whole, with the hull still at-tached but without the cupule (fig. 3),which usually detaches from the fruitwhen it reaches maturity. In general, de-tailed studies of intraspecific differences

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are based on the morphology of thecupule and the leaves (Renfrew 1973),and it is thus very difficult to determinethe exact taxonomy of the ancient mate-rial, among which there are no traces ofthese elements. Taxonomic resolution iskey however to recognising the use ofacorns as food, since not all species areconsidered edible4.

To this end, morphometric studies

were conducted on the cotyledons of theancient and modern acorns, using thespecies attested by the anthracologicalanalyses performed in the same sites(Quercus of the robur and cerris types;Quercus of the ilex type) as a reference,seeking to determine the current distribu-tion of the various species (Fiorentino1998; Macchia et alii 2000; Campanile,Cocca 2005). The modern acorns of Q.

4 In his description of the various kinds of oak, Theophrastus (3.8) states that the acorns of the holm-oak (Q. ilex) are sweeter than those of the kermes oak (Q. coccifera), but more bitter than those of the Eng-lish oak (Q. robur). In Sardinia, as in other regions of the western Mediterranean, ethnographic studies re-port the use of holm-oak acorns for making bread (Usai 1969; Prance, Nesbitt 2005). A detailed list of thetannin content and palatability of the various species found in the Mediterranean can be found in Mason1995.

Fig. 2 – Acorn morphology: a) apex; b) pale area at the base; c) cupule; d) membranous skin with pronouncedbranching veins; e) half of a kernel (one cotyledon) showing the embryo; f) kernel in transversal section show-ing both cotyledons.

Fig. 3 – Modern acorn of Quercus ilex after charring in a controlled environment (400°C for about 60 minutes).

cerris and Q. ilex were gathered at a ripestage in late October in various areas ofPuglia with contrasting micro-climates:the cerris sample was gathered in the for-est of Bosco Quarto, Monte Sant’Angelo(FG, 796 m above sea level). The two ilexsamples were gathered in the forest ofBosco di Tagliacantoni, Vieste (20 mabove sea level) and in a sub-coastal woodnear Taranto (5 m above sea level). Aftergathering, the fruits were dried in order toreduce their residual humidity; this pro-cedure caused the separation of thosecupules that were still attached to thecotyledons.

Morphometric investigations wereconducted on the three dried samples,measuring the length (L) and maximum

width (d) and calculating the ratio ofthe two measurements (L/d). These pa-rameters were measured again after aprocess of charring in a controlled envi-ronment by exposing the acorns to400°C for about 60 minutes. For thecomparison with Q. robur reference wasmade to the data reported in Jørgensen(1977) and used by Fiorentino (1995).

Verification of the variations in thebiometric features of the cotyledons in-duced by charring made it possible to es-tablish certain fundamental aspects:– inside the fruit itself, the individual

length (L) and width (d) parametersare modified by combustion, with areduction of 14-18% with respect tothe initial value;

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Fig. 4 – Dispersion diagram showing L/d ratio of charred acorns: modern (N = Q. cerris; L = Q. ilex fromBosco di Tagliacantoni, Vieste; J= Q. ilex from Taranto) and ancient (B = Scalo di Furno; D = PiazzaPalmieri; F = Roca; H = Scoglio di Apani). The green area illustrates that value in Q. robur/petraea acornsaccording to Jørgensen (1977).

– charring does not modify the L/d ra-tio, showing that this parameter is notinfluenced by fire and can thus beadopted as a criterion for the recogni-tion of species.The L/d ratio calculated for the three

modern groups of cotyledons (two fromilex and one from cerris) was subse-quently compared with the ratio calcu-lated for the ancient remains on the ba-sis of the measurements conducted(Fiorentino 1995). The data are plottedtogether and visualised in a dispersion di-agram (fig. 4); the clusters of points be-longing to the seven samples (modern:N-L-J; ancient: B-D-F-H) indicate thatthe L/d ratio of the ancient cotyledonscorresponds closely to that of the mod-ern holm-oak cotyledons. Specifically,they are distributed within a range be-tween the acorns from the coastal areanear Taranto and those from theGargano.

Acorn processing and storage: archaeologi-cal markers based on ethnobotanical infor-mation

Knowledge of the methods used forgathering, processing and preparingacorns can clearly help us in the recog-nition of the archaeobotanical, archaeo-logical and taphonomical evidence asso-ciated with their use. Ethnographic com-parisons, widely available in the literaturefor many areas of the world (Mason,

Nesbitt 2009; Mason 1995; Usai 1969),can help to accurately define all the in-termediate operations that serve to trans-form the fruit into food. The diagrambased on these observations5 (fig. 5)shows the individual steps, from thegathering of the fruits to the preparationof the dishes (cakes, bread, broth, pap).For each phase the diagram indicates thespecific operations in which the use offire, by exposing the acorns to the risk ofcombustion, can convert the intendedfood into archaeobotanical material.

Phase I The gathering of the acornsusually takes place at the end of October,when the fruit is ripe and tends natural-ly to detach itself from the plant and fallto the ground without its cupule. Theethnographic observations reveal that themost common practice was to gather theacorns from the ground without needingto remove the cupules. In a small num-ber of cases however it has been observedthat the acorns were gathered from thetree, with the cupule removed there andthen. In order to avoid carrying materi-al that could not be used to the village,the fruits affected by parasites6 wereeliminated by floating them in a basin ofwater. The operations linked to this ini-tial phase took place off-site, thus leavingno trace in terms of archaeological evi-dence.

Phase II concerns practices related topre-storage, i.e. a) discarding worm-eat-en fruits if this had not been done previ-ously; b) drying in order to reduce the

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5 The observations concern the three main preparation methods reported by Mason and Nesbitt (2009),which are associated with distinct geographical and cultural traditions: boiling (Sardegna); roasting (south-east Turkey); leaching of the flour (California).

6 Damage by parasites (generally Balaninum glandium) can occur even while the fruit is still on the tree;traces of such damage in fossil acorns does not therefore constitute evidence that they were gathered fromthe ground.

tannin content. The latter operation wasaccomplished by leaving the fruits in thesun, on the roofs of houses (as happensin Turkey), or by moderate exposure tofire. From the archaeological point of

view Phase II may be attested by thepresence of pyrotechnic structures (grid-dles, fires, hearths) in association withthe burnt remains of sound acorns still intheir hulls.

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Fig. 5 – The diagram, based on ethnographic observations, shows the individual steps, from the gatheringto production: for each phase the diagram shows the possible archaeological and archaeobotanical evidences.

Phase III includes all the storage oper-ations. The available evidence attests tothe practice of mixing the acorns withsoil, either in alternate layers or in pits;this not only caused the acorns to losetheir “bitter” taste but also to be pre-served for long periods, from a few weeksto many months. Other attested forms ofstorage include silos and baskets made ofplant fibre. In archaeological terms, thepresence of these structures may indicatethat acorns were stored while still in theirhulls. In reality these would be conservedin the archaeological deposit only if thestructure (dwelling and/or storehouse)was subject to a fire.

Phase IV The acorns were made intoflour, bread or dough for other uses byvarious methods. The first operation wasthe removal of the hull by roasting overhot coals7 (which allows manual removaland further elimination of tannins) or bybeating and subsequent ventilation (themethod used by the native Californians).The toasted and hulled acorns can bebroken into pieces and eaten directly asa crunchy snack, which was the customin Turkey until the 1940s. In the Oglias-tra region of Sardinia, acorn bread wasprepared by cooking the fruits for manyhours in a pot with water and clay or ash.From the resulting pap the larger piecesof acorn were then removed to make thelande (an agglomerate of soft but stillrecognisable acorns) and the remainderwas boiled down even further to producea sort of polenta called fitta. Both thelande and the fitta were allowed to cooland then consumed as flat cakes, the for-mer by the adults and the latter, more

easily digested, by the children. Anothercommon method of preparation was togrind the acorns finely to a flour, whichcould then be mixed with flour fromother cereals (barley, wheat, maize) formaking bread. Hulled acorns that havenot been toasted can also be made intoflour (fig. 6). The native Americans ofCalifornia placed the flour in a recepta-cle fixed to the ground and repeatedlysoaked it in water to eliminate the solu-ble tannins.

This operation (leaching) took manyhours and was completed only when thecolour of the flour had changed from yel-low to white. At this point the filtered

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7 Before subjecting the acorns to roasting, an incision is made in each fruit in order to prevent it fromexploding.

Fig. 6 – Hupa of California processing acorns (Pho-to from hastingreserve.org).

flour was cooked in water by the stone-boiling method to obtain a pap thatcould be eaten hot or cold, and cut intosmaller pieces.

The archaeological traces that theseoperations can leave on the ground in-clude pyrotechnic structures (griddles,hearths, etc.), as well as specific toolssuch as kettles, pestles, grindstones etc8.The archaeobotanical record is charac-terised by the presence of: a) acornsburnt accidentally during roasting, withor without the hull; b) concentrations offragments of acorn hulls in the areaswhere the acorns were cleaned; c) re-mains of accidentally charred bread orpap.

ACORNS IN CONTEXT: DECODINGCROP PROCESSING AND FOODSTRATEGIES

The first interesting data concerningthe verification of the use of acorns forfood in the subsistence strategies of theprotohistoric communities of south-eastItaly emerges from the biometric analy-

sis of the ancient acorns and from thecomparison with their modern equiva-lents. The experimental approach basedon modern acorns showed that the ar-chaeobotanical samples analysed all be-longed to a single species, the holm-oak(Quercus ilex), whose fruits are consid-ered by both the ancient authors and theethnographic sources as being among the“sweetest” and, thus potentially edible.

The construction of a reference mod-el (fig. 5) on the basis of ethnographic in-formation regarding the harvest, storageand preparation as food of acorns madeit possible to determine the archaeologi-cal evidence (structures, tools, contexts)and archaeobotanical evidence (productsand sub-products) for each phase of theprocess. This evidence was then com-pared with the contextual characteristicsof our samples (Tab. 1).

For those archaeological contexts thatwere clearly associated with domestic ac-tivities, the comparison highlighted thephases of the process linked to the prepa-ration and consumption of food: i) the sample of acorns from Scalo di

Furno (made up of whole and frag-

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8 Clear confirmation of the use of these tools in the processing of acorns may come from chemical analy-ses that highlight the presence of starch from Quercus, for example on the Mesolithic grindstone discoveredin the site of Donghulin, north of China (cfr. Liu et alii 2010).

Tab. 1 – Archaeological sites, contexts and archaeobotanical material analyzed.

mented fruits as well as fragments ofhulls) seems to reflect the characteris-tics of Phase III (storage);

ii) the remains from Apani (composed ofhulled acorns found concentratedaround a cooking hearth) seem to belinked to phase IV (preparation).In the first case, the holm-oak acorns

may have been subject to storage, beingkept in a hole that was subsequently ac-cidentally affected by fire. In the secondcase the acorns may have been subject to“uncontrolled” roasting; the remains ofacorns from the site of Monopoli, whichwere also found near a cooking hearth,have been interpreted in the same way(Fiorentino 1995). The discovery of Ro-ca, which was not made in a clearly do-mestic context, cannot be directly asso-ciated with any of the above-mentionedphases. Given the characteristics of thearchaeological context and the ar-chaeobotanical assemblage, it appears tobelong to the “symbolic sphere” as a partof a ritual deposition together with oth-er plant and animal remains.

What emerges from the analysis of thecontexts is that like figs and olives, acornswere the object of systematic and specif-ic harvesting from trees found among the

natural vegetation of south-east Italy inthe mid second millennium BC. Theuse of this fruit entailed consumption af-ter specific techniques for preparation,designed to make it palatable, and stor-age, designed to meet the demand forfood in the periods following the harvest.

In nutritional terms acorns have ahigh energy value and are rich in carbo-hydrates, fats and proteins, with an over-all nutritional value comparable to thatof cereals (Tab. 2)9.

The chronological horizon in whichthe intensive exploitation of acorns oc-curred poses an interesting though as yetunresolved question: this was a periodwhen the systematic harvest of the fruitsof certain trees (such as olives, vines andfigs) soon led to the organised plantingof these trees as crops (Peroni 1998; DiFraia 1998; Fiorentino et alii 2004; Zo-hary, Hopf 2000), but the habit of eat-ing acorns did not lead to the same resultin terms of domestication. There may bea number of explanations. An initial hy-pothesis concerns the slow growth of theplant, which requires at least 10 years tobecome productive; a decade is an ex-tremely long time, although the olivetree, which fruits after 3 years, only be-

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9 Numerous studies have looked at the productivity and yield of oaks and the nutritional value of theirfruits. To cite a few by way of example, Parsons (1962) estimated an average yield of 5-700 kg of acornsper hectare for the holm-oak forests of south-west Spain; the ethnographic observations of Goldchmidt(1974) on the native Americans of the Hupa reservation include interesting data concerning the prepara-tion of 21 kg of gruel from 2.7 kg of hulled acorns; in a series of replicated experiments on acorn harvest-ing and hulling, Petruso and Wickens (1984) established that the cost in terms of hours varied between 0.7h/kg and 8.3 h/kg for two different species of oak; the return in terms of calories was estimated at between290 kcal/h and 3500 kcal/h (excluding the phases of filtering and cooking).

Tab. 2 – Nutritional value of acorns of Quercus ilex (from Mason, Nesbitt 2009).

ATZEI A.D. 2003 - Le piante nella tradizionepopolare della Sardegna, Delfino C. ed., Sas-sari.

BASGALL M. E. 1987 - Resource Intensifi-cation Among Hunter-Gatherers: AcornEconomies in Prehistoric California, Re-search in Economic Anthropology 9: 21-52.

BOENZI F., CALDARA M., PENNETTAL., SIMONE O. 2004 - EnvironmentalAspects Related to the Physical Evolutionof Some Wetlands Along the Adriatic Coastof Apulia (Southern Italy): a review, Jour-nal of Coastal Research SI 36: 170-75.

CALDARA M.; CAZZELLA A., FIORENTI-NO G., LOPEZ R., MAGRI D., MOS-COLONI M., SIMONE O. 2003 - The re-lationship between the Coppa Nevigata set-tlement and the wetland area during the

Bronze Age (South eastern Italy), inMediterranean word environment and histo-ry, Proceeding of the Symposium Environ-mental Dynamics and History in the Mediter-ranean areas, Fouache E. Ed., Paris Sor-bonne.

CAMPANILE G., COCCA C. 2005 - Iboschi della Puglia: caratteristiche e prob-lematiche. Forest@ 2 (2): 172-177.

CANEVA G., PANDOLFI MA., FASCETTIS. 1997 - Le piante alimentari spontaneedella Basilicata, Consiglio regionale diBasilicata, Ufficio Stampa.

CAROLI I., CALDARA M. 2006 - Vegeta-tion history of Lago Battaglia (easternGargano coast, Apulia, Italy) during theMiddle-Late Holocene, Vegetation Historyand Archeobotany 16: 317-327.

comes fully productive after 10 years.Another explanation, in some ways moreplausible, is linked to the genetic charac-teristics of the Quercus genus: the diffi-culty of selecting a type of oak that pro-duces fruit with suitable characteristicsfor a human diet, particularly its palata-bility, which is linked to its tannin con-tent, derives from the oaks’ high degreeof hybridisation.

At the current stage of the research,the analyses of the archaeological con-texts in Puglia have highlighted a prob-able use of acorns as food in the secondmillennium BC, but it is necessary toclarify the processes and the time-scaleassociated with the rise and subsequentdecline of this practice in the BronzeAge. Also of interest is its relationshipwith the natural vegetation and any linkit may have had with the short-term

climatic variations that characterisedthis phase of the Holocene. The exper-imental reproduction of the processingtechniques and the ethnographic re-search have also shown the need for fur-ther archaeobotanical research, in asso-ciation with chemical analyses of theceramic containers and tools (grind-stones and pestles) that were common-ly used for certain operations, in orderto gain a better understanding of an-cient dietary habits and the use of plant-based foodstuffs that have no immedi-ate parallels with modern food prac-tices.

* Laboratorio di Archeobotanica e Paleoecologia, Dipartimento di Beni

Culturali - Università del Salentomilena.primavera@unisalento.it

girolamo.fiorentino@unisalento.it

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