bronze age environment and economy in the troad - Universität ...

chapter 2: methods
In Near Eastern countries, where trees and wood are valuable
raw materials, people make intensive use of the maquis,
garrigue and batha, and other alternative fuel sources. For
example, Sarcopoterium spinosum and other spiny plants are
important fuels, alongside the use as fuel of dung and waste
products from cereal processing, or a draff mixture from olive
oil and wine production (Hepper 1992). With the early opening
of the vegetation and intensive charcoal fabrication for metal
production, at least in Late Bronze Age, one might imagine that
a few of the shrubby plants came into the settlement as fuel.
Considering the high value of wood for different craft purposes
and the early decline of Mediterranean woodlands, it seems
likely that people used alternative fuel sources for cooking and
heating from the earliest days.
The spiny plants, which are numerous in several plant families
in Near Eastern countries, have been important sources of fuel
since at least biblical times. In particular, Sarcopoterium
spinosum, a characteristic plant of maquis, garrigue and batha,
which is not browsed by animals, is cut and collected today in
Near Eastern countries (Seçmen and Leblebici 1978, p. 227).
Not only spiny plants, but all dry vegetative plant material is
used for fuel, such as brushwood from fruit-tree pruning, chaff
remains from crop-processing, etc.. In addition, vegetative
material rich in oil was always used for fuel. Olive and grape
draff, for example, are known to be burnt together (Hepper
1992).
Today dung is still a welcome fuel, mainly in arid and treeless
regions. The importance of dung in the formation of
archaeobotanical contexts has only recently been discussed.
Some archaeobotanists conclude that dung used as fuel was the
main source of carbonised plant remains at their sites (e.g.
Miller 1984, Miller and Smart 1984, Bottema 1984).
Ethnographic investigations reveal the importance of dung as a
fuel, not least by the tradition along with dung cake preparation
and preferences in the use of it. Different kinds of dung cakes
exist, according to their seasonal origin, the preparation
method, and the animals they derive from. Amongst the six
different types of dung cakes that are listed by Anderson
(1995) the compacted sheep dung cut from byres (sarma) has
the best burning qualities. Summer sheep droppings can also be
swept up and moulded into a ‛bun’ shape. Kerpiç, which was
found in relation with the architecture in Troy, is early summer
cow dung compacted into a mould, whereas Kerme is winter
cow dung, compacted and cut into bricks. The preparation
method, whereby additional plant material is mixed into the
dung cake, is generally assumed to give poorer burning quality,
and may affect the interpretation of archaeobotanical samples
as dung remains (Miller 1984). Amongst the plants that are
used as tinder, and are collected and dried for this purpose, are
Astragalus sp., Juncus inflexus, Phragmites australis, Salix and
Vitis vinifera branches (Anderson 1995).
The interpretation of archaeobotanical macrofossils as dung or
fodder remains, especially in English literature, leads not only
to economic and ecological conclusions (deforestation), but
also to the reconstruction of the social environment, because of
the connection of fuel scarcity with economic poverty (Fenton
1985). Additionally, when used as fuel, the dung is lost for
purposes such as fertiliser. The sociopolitical aspects of using
dung for fuel are sometimes expressed in the concept of some
kind of ownership of the dung by the shepherd (Anderson
1995).
The palynological, archaeozoological and archaeological
results from Troy (Gennett and Gifford 1982, Uerpmann,
Köhler and Stephan 1992) suggest that dung was an important
source of archaeobotanical remains. The wild plant species, not
associated with the crops, and which were thought to derive
from animal feed or dung, were evaluated for their suitability
for cattle or for sheep/goat nutrition. It has to be assumed that
the different growing heights of these species make them
variously accessible to animals. Due to their masticatory
apparatus and carriage, cows are adapted to grazing taller herbs
(they are not able to pull up short grasses with their tongue),
while sheep tend to graze on lower vegetation layers. Goats are
a special case, with the ability to browse on trees. An
assemblage dominated by low-growing potential fodder plants
should indicate that the remains in question are probably
derived from sheep dung rather than from cattle.
In most archaeological contexts with unknown formation
processes there seems to be no definitive way of identifying
dung samples from the plant macro-remains alone. In some
exceptional cases it might be possible (as for the remains older
than Troy I, in trench D5, see chapter 3.2.2.1). Investigations of
the survival of plant seeds during digestion have been mainly
conducted by agronomists, e.g. to assess whether or not cattle
were responsible for the spread of weeds on farm land (e.g.
Atkeson, Hulbert and Warren 1934, Burton and Andrews 1948,
Russi, Cocks and Roberts 1992, Gardener, McIvor and Jansen
1993, Malo and Suárez 1995), whereas syn- and
postdepositional taphonomic influences on dung fuel has
mainly been studied by archaeobotanists (e.g. McLaughlin
Smith 1990).
The taphonomic processes that lead to the formation of dung
cakes are relatively complicated. Food selection by animals
and humans and digestion are the most important filters
between the available plants in the environment and the seeds
in animal dung.
Considering feed selection by animals, one recognises that
digestibility remains high until the onset of flowering (Arnold
1964). Taste, smell, toxicity and physical protection of a plant
affect its palatability. Spikes and thorns offer plants a form of
physical protection from predation, but animals may still target
these plants due to a lack of alternatives.
Selection by humans concerns whole vegetation units or the
composition of fodder. The different areas and different
households Anderson (1995) observed, used different
husbandry regimes. Sheep herders kept the animals inside
during the winter and fed them on a combination of cereals,
legumes and crop-processing residues. Fodder can also be in
the form of fresh or stored herbage, or even fruits such as dried
grapes, which are fed to the rams before the mating season.
Although mature herbage is the least nutritious (Fishwick
1952, Jones and Wilson 1987), it is likely to be stored as fodder
in this form. This also means that hay is likely to be cut around
the seed-bearing stage, which may increase the chance of seeds
entering the animal dung through fodder. As mentioned before,
crop-processing residues are also an important source of animal
fodder. Such residues are not very nutritious, but the
digestibility of straw can be improved by supplementing the
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