Short guide to lakeshore Russian Archaeobotany

Marian Berihuete Azorín April 2014

WATERLOGGED vs. DRY

JUSTIFICATION

Foreword Seeds can be preserved charred in a fossil state or as sub-fossils, under waterlogged conditions. In sites with waterlogged preservation the number of charred remains is by far smaller than the quantity of waterlogged seeds. That means that in sites where only fossil conservation is possible we are recovering only a few taxa in a reduced number. Therefore, because most of the studied sites around the world present a dry conservation, our image of past plant use is highly biased. This fact has obviously not helped to enhance the important of plant resources for Mesolithic and early Neolithic peoples.

Of course, that does not mean that it is not worth to study those sites, but reveals how important is that we study the remains coming from sites with special preservation conditions, where we can get a much more accurate picture of the archaeobotanical assemblage.

In order to maximize the information we get, we have to follow a correct sampling strategy and sample processing. This sample strategy is based in the vast experience of central European teams working at lake-shore

settlements with waterlogged preservation.

Till date, only little archaeobotanical work has been carried out at Russian lakeshore settlements with waterlogged conservation. For this reason, I would like to compile some of the information that would have been useful for me when I first started to work on this material. It is consequently a short guide based on my personal experience working at the sites Serteya I and II (Smolenks region) and Zamostje 2 (Sergiev Possad).

The main topics to deal with are: the sampling strategy, the retrieving of samples itself, as well as their latter processing at the laboratory, and the materials that, eventually, archaeobotanists are going to find at their samples. Since many of us are not accustomed to work with materials coming from wetland sites, and very often our reference collections do not include water plants, I summarized the main taxa encountered within our samples, with emphasis on those species typical from water-rich environments.

FIELD SAMPLING: 10 litres per unit: 92mm, 10.3 mm

SAMPLING PRE-TREATMENT:

Freezing

SAMPLING PROCESSING: Wash-over

Since there is an abundant experience working at sites with waterlogged conservation, I would refer mainly to the already published literature.

Sampling strategy:

Jacomet, Stefanie (2013): Archaeobotany: Analyses of Plant Remains from Waterlogged Archaeological Sites. In: F. Menotti/A. O'Sullivan (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Wetland Archaeology, Oxford University Press, 497-514

Sampling pre-treatment:

Vandorpe, P., Jacomet, S. (2007). Comparing different pre-treatment methods for strongly compacted organic sediments prior to wet-sieving: a case study on Roman waterlogged deposits. Environmental Archaeology 2007 Vol. 12 No 2, 207-214

Sampling processing:

Experience at waterlogged sites has demonstrated that wash-over is the best way to recover arcaheobotanical remains. Most waterlogged and/or mineralized remains don’t float (therefore no flotation is possible) and they are very fragile (therefore water-sieving is not optimal).

Kenward, H., Hall, A. and Jones, A. (1980) A tested set of techniques for the extraction of plant and animal macrofossils from waterlogged archaeological deposits, Science and Archaeology, vol. 22, pp. 3- 15

Sorting:

Always with a binocular and very good light. Picking up other remains which add information, like opercula of Bythinia (see next section).

Sampling: Strategies and Processing

Sorting (or what else you may find in your samples)

Besides to archaeobotanical macroremains, charcoal, wood, faunal remains, shells, roots or tubers (3), fish remains (2) (as scales, vertebrae or bones) are very frequent at lakeshore sites. Malacofauna is also abundant, and gives us information about the lake influence in the site formation history (e.g. the opercula of Bythinia (1)). Thanks to this extraordinary preservation, organic cultural remains, such as cords or ropes, are also found.

1 2

3

Alder seed and 2 cones (Alnus glutinosa)

Oat grass (Arrhenatherum elatius var. bulbosum)

Hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum)

Buckbean (Menyanthes

trifoliata)

Watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum)

Spiny naiad (Najas marina)

Yellow water lily (Nuphar lutea)

White water-lily (Nymphaea alba)

Pondweed (Potamogeton sp.)

Bird cherry (Prunus padus)

Dewberry (Rubus caesius)

Raspberry (Rubus idaeus)

Stone Bramble (Rubus saxatilis)

Club- rush (Schoenoplectus sp.)

Bur-reed (Sparganium emersum)

Saltbush (Atriplex sp.)

Goosefoot (Chenopodium album)

Water Pineapple (Stratiotes aloides)

Guelder rose (Viburnum opulus)

Literature

Antolín, F. (2013) Of cereal, poppy, acorns and hazelnuts. Plant economy among early farmers (5500-2300 cal BC) in the NE of the

Iberian Peninsula. An archaeobotanical approach. PhD. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

Berihuete, M. and Lozovskaya, O. (2013) Plant record at the Wetland site Zamostje 2, Sergiev Posad. Poster. 16th IWGP Symposium,

Thessaloniki, Greece, 17-22 June, 2013

Berihuete Azorin, M. and Lozovskaya, O. (2014): “Evolution of plant use at the wetland site Zamostje 2, Russia: First results”. In Paleoenvironment and Models of adaptations of lake settlements in the Mesolithic and Neolithic of the forest zone of Eastern Europe.

Materials of the International Conference, May, 19–21, 2014, St. Petersbourg. Pp. 74-79

Домбровская А.В., Коренева М.М., Тюремнов С.Н. (1959) Атлас растительных остатков, встречаемых в торфе. Государственное

энергетическое издательство, Москва, 228 стр.(pdf)

Ershova, E. (2013) Zamostje 2, (2013) Results of the botanical and pollen analysis. In Lozovski, V., Lozovskaya, O. and Clemente Conte

,I. (Eds.), Zamostje 2. Lake settlement of the Mesolithic and Neolithic fisherman in UpperVolga region. St. Petersbourg. Pp. 183- 193

Jacomet, Stefanie (1985) Botanische Makroreste aus den Sedimenten des neolithischen Siedlungsplatzes AKAD-Seehofstrasse am

untersten Zürichsee. Die Reste der Uferpflanzen und ihre Aussagemöglichkeiten zu Vegetationsgeschichte, Schichtentstehung und

Seespiegelschwankungen. Zürcher Studien zur Archäologie, Textband (95 Seiten) plus Tafelband

Saltbush and goosefoot pictures: http://dzn.eldoc.ub.rug.nl/?page=browse&family=Amaranthaceae

marian berihuete azorin

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Post-Doc Institut für Botanik, Universität Hohenheim

[Garbenstrasse 30, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany]

Email:Marian.Berihuete@uni‐hohenheim.deWeb:www.staple.mixxt.net