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

chapter 3: analysis
In most of the samples, however, typical weeds seem to be the
dominant group amongst the wild plants.
To summarise the proportions of crops, weeds and waterplants,
most of the samples consisted mainly of crop species (up to
100% of plant remains in one of the flax samples and in some
of the pea deposits, Graph 18, 19b and 26) and the proportion
of plant remains from crop species is higher than in the Early
Bronze Age samples. The apparently high percentage of weeds
(up to 50%) in the two flax samples visible in the diagram, is
due to the classification of Camelina sativa as a weed. All the
other samples contained less than 30% weeds, amongst them
those abundantly associated with flax (Fumaria officinalis)
(Graph 19c). Waterplants generally were a minor component
of samples and only in three samples were more than 50% of
plant remains from waterplants.
3.2.4.3 Diversity
Only in three cases were pure single crops deposited (Graph
27). In general, more than three crop categories are presented
in each of the samples.
The waterplant group occurs mainly in samples dominated by
cereal chaff. This was also the case for the Early Bronze Age
samples.
Generally, samples contained not more than 10 typical weed
species, but more typical weeds species were present than in
the previous (Early Bronze Age) period Graph 6 and 19c).
During Middle Bronze Age 13 of the possible 16 crops were
cultivated, which is more than in any other period. One might
be tempted to speculate about why so many different food
plants were cultivated. Diversified cropping may occur in
wealthy as well as in poor societies, either to enrich the
everyday kitchen or as a form of protection against the risk of
crop failures.
Wild species from some habitats occur more frequently than in
the Early Bronze Age. These are the weeds, species from open,
relatively dry habitats, from woodland and coastal habitats.
The range of species from open, ‛grassland’-type vegetation,
maquis and freshwater vegetation is narrower than in the
previous period. Considering crops and weeds only, a lower
degree of specialisation is indicated.
3.2.5 Late Bronze Age Troy
3.2.5.1 General patterns of the crop species
With 64 samples and 82 species, the plots of the Late Bronze
Age samples from Troy were very ‛busy’, so that only rough
patterns were visible in graphs such as 28.
Looking at the sample classes (site classes; Graph 28) the first
axis separates some of the Troy VIIa samples, which were
dominated by chickpea, from the remaining samples. Amongst
other remains associated with chickpea were the weedy
Lathyrus sativus/cicera, Quercus sp. and Thymelaea sp..
Barley was separated from the other crops along the second
axis, which was also responsible for the grouping of hulled
wheat grain, emmer chaff, bitter vetch, grape and fig in the
third quadrant, and einkorn chaff, flax, horse bean, millet,
olive, lentil and Triticum aestivum/durum grain in the fourth
quadrant. Of the wild plants, those most associated with barley
are morphologically similar grasses such as weedy barley
types. Most of the waterplants were associated with grape, fig
and flax, which better reflects the processes of deposition than
the natural habitats of these species. As in the samples from
earlier periods, grape and fig are in most cases closely
associated. This could indicate similar consumption patterns,
or less probably cultivation in the same plantations, as is
recognised from Linear B tablets (Palmer 1995). As grape was
ubiquitous but never abundant, it is suggested that the grape
seeds in the samples are from grapes which, like figs, were
consumed as fruit, either fresh or dried.
Correspondence analysis of the same data after the exclusion
of Cicer arietinum shows the existence of three main groups
(Graph 29). Most of the Troy VIIb samples (group 1) are
separated from the other samples. They contain hulled wheat
chaff in abundance, some weeds and most of the waterindicating
plants. A small group of samples (group 2) from
different periods are separated on the third axis from the others
and contain mainly hulled wheat grain, barley grain and
rachises, bitter vetch, and some weeds. The remaining samples
and species are more or less regularly distributed within the
first quadrant and contain mainly grasses and the crops grape,
lentil and olive (group 3). An additional cereal, which is
cultivated in large amounts for the first time in Late Bronze
Age Troy, is Panicum miliaceum (Graph 14). Interestingly,
naked wheat almost disappears from the set of crops, after
having been already established in Middle Bronze Age. So
does flax, which occurs from now on only in small numbers,
and seems to be replaced again by olive. Fig also shows a
decrease. The traditional cereals display different patterns.
Barley grain increases, emmer increases in grain and decreases
in chaff remains, and for einkorn it is the opposite case. For the
latter crop there is a general decrease from the set of crops,
which continues in the Post-Bronze Age samples. Of the grain
legumes, garden pea disappears completely and chickpea
appears for the first time (Graph 14). The incidence of lentil
and grape is very similar to that in the Middle Bronze Age.
Considering the number of categories (Graph 6), one
recognises some tendencies in terms of increase and decrease
of species presence within different eco-groups. Altogether, the
Late Bronze Age samples contain a wider range of species than
samples from any previous period, partly because there was a
greater number of samples. An increase in the number of
species from Middle Bronze Age to Late Bronze Age is found
in all eco-groups, except for plants from coastal habitats, which
are also no longer that strongly represented in absolute seed
counts as they were in Middle Bronze Age. Considering the
distinct differences in the composition of the various ecogroups
between the Early Bronze Age and the Middle Bronze
Age, the development in the Late Bronze Age seems to be just
a continuation of the processes already started in Middle
Bronze Age Troy.
43