Foodstuffs, Forests, Fields, and Shelter: A Paleoethnobotanical Analysis of Vessel Contents from the Ceren Site, El Salvador

1996 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 247-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
David L. Lentz ◽  
Marilyn P. Beaudry-Corbett ◽  
Maria Luisa Reyna de Aguilar ◽  
Lawrence Kaplan
Keyword(s):  
El Salvador ◽  
Food Storage ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Contextual Data ◽  
Plant Parts ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
Trading Partners ◽  
Ceramic Vessels ◽  
Botanical Remains

Botanical remains found in ceramic vessels and other containers at the Cerén site, El Salvador, provide evidence for how plants were used by Classic-period inhabitants. Because of the rapid inundation of ash caused by the eruption of the Loma Caldera volcano sometime around A. D. 590, conditions for the preservation of plant parts at Cerén are superior to most other Mesoamerican sites. Carbonized plant remains, or impressions thereof, recovered from vessels include an assortment of domesticates, cultigens, and wild plants that describe an overall pattern of a highly diversified subsistence base. Although clear statistical associations among vessels, structure types, and plant remains are not evident, the contextual data reveal food storage and other plant-use practices of the site occupants. The apparent abundance of plant-derived products and Mayan trade goods at Cerén suggests the potential contribution made by small farmers as both suppliers to and trading partners with the larger cultural developments in Mesoamerica.

scholarly journals Vinca-Belo Brdo, a late neolithic site in Serbia consideration of the macro-botanical remains as indicators of dietary habits

Balcanica ◽  
2012 ◽  
pp. 7-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dragana Filipovic ◽  
Nenad Tasic
Keyword(s):  
Potential Role ◽  
Dietary Habits ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Neolithic Site ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
Botanical Remains ◽  
Abundance And Distribution ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Food Consumed

The analysis of macro-botanical remains from the late Neolithic site of Vinca-Belo Brdo has provided first information on the range of crops and wild plants present at the site, and revealed their potential role as foodstuffs. The abundance and distribution of certain plant taxa across different archaeological deposits suggests to what extent they were used within the settlement. The analyzed plant remains also offer insight into the types of food consumed by Vinca residents and serve as a basis for inferring the seasonality and method of food provision/production and activities related to plant use.

scholarly journals Crops and wild plants from early iron age Kalakaca, northern Serbia: Comparing old and new archaeobotanical data

Balcanica ◽  
2015 ◽  
pp. 7-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dragana Filipovic
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Plant Material ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
The Past ◽  
Plant Matter ◽  
Animal Bone ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
Ceramic Vessels ◽  
Crop Types

The ?old? archaeobotanical analysis of charred plant remains hand-picked in the 1970?s from several pit-features at Early Iron Age Kalakaca in Vojvodina, northern Serbia was conducted by Willem van Zeist and published by Predrag Medovic. This work provided first information on the archaeobotany of the site and the plant material deposited in the semi- or fully-subterranean structures whose function has remained more-or-less enigmatic. These features were in the past filled with a mass of fragments of, primarily, large ceramic vessels, chunks of (burnt) daub, large quantities of animal bone, and burnt plant matter. The ?new? archaeobotanical work at Kalakaca included sampling and flotation in the field, and subsequent analysis of a fraction of the samples. The paper explores the composition of the two datasets from Kalakaca, separately and combined; it identifies the spectra of crop and wild plants and discusses the quantitative representation of the crops. The paper concludes by broadly comparing the integrated crop record from this site with the crop datasets from few other Early Iron Age sites in Serbia in order to get a preliminary picture on the choice of cultivated crops and possible preferences for certain crop types.

Plant Remains from the Washington Square Mound site (41NA49), Nacogdoches, Texas

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie L. Bush
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Evergreen Forest ◽  
Pinus Echinata ◽  
Shortleaf Pine ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
River Cane ◽  
Botanical Remains ◽  
Washington Square

Botanical remains were identified from 27 lots from the Washington Square Mound site (41NA49). The primary occupation at the site is Middle Caddo period in age. The first pooled set of calibrated radiocarbon dates from the site fell into the period A.D. 1268-1302, while a recent set of five calibrated dates from samples of plant remains discussed in this article range from A.D. 1279 + 17; (2) A.D. 1358 + 57; and three dates on charred corn from Features 36, 81, and 86 range from as early as A.D. 1394 to as late as A.D. 1437. These dates as a group fall in the Middle Caddo period; there is limited evidence at the site for other, smaller occupations, including Late Caddo and Late Woodland/Early Caddo. At least three mounds were visible in the nineteenth century. Much of the site was never plowed, a situation that has resulted in intact shallow deposits and unusually large pottery sherds, although a high school has been built over parts of the non-mound site area. Labels of botanical lots that included excavation dates indicate a range from 1979 to 1983, associating the botanical remains with Stephen F. Austin State University Field School excavations that took place during this time. At least nine features are represented in the botanical lots. Four are described as charcoal-filled pits, one as a pit, and one as a post mold. Feature 36 was a corn cob concentration . Botanical lots for Features 62, 81, and 199 are also present. The Washington Square Mound site is situated in the city of Nacogdoches, Texas, on an interfluve between Banita Creek and La Nana Creek, which drain into La Nana Bayou and the Angelina River. The area lies squarely in the Pineywoods ecological zone, the westernmost extension of the great Southeastern Evergreen Forest that reaches across the southeastern United States to the Atlantic coast (Braun 2001:281). The dominant vegetation type in an upland area such as Washington Square during presettlement times would have been a shortleaf pine community, where shortleaf pines (Pinus echinata) share dominance with dry-site oaks such as southern red oak (Quercus falcata), post oak (Q. stellata), and blackjack oak (Q. marilandica), hickories (Carya spp.), and elms (Ulmus spp.) Springs and marshy areas nearby would have offered aquatic and wetland plants such as river cane (Arundinaria gigantea). A spring-fed pond is reported to have existed north of the site, and a marshy area to the southwest. Pollen studies indicate that use of the modern and recent vegetation is appropriate for understanding the plants and attendant animal resources available to occupants of the sites during prehistoric times. Some fluctuations in rainfall and temperature have taken place, however. In addition, more frequent fires would have made the understory in the uplands less prominent than today. Early explorers in East Texas and other parts of the Eastern Woodlands noted the open, park-like nature of many woodlands.

scholarly journals Antioxidant and Mineral Composition of Three Wild Leafy Species: A Comparison Between Microgreens and Baby Greens

Foods ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 487 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Lenzi ◽  
Alessandro Orlandini ◽  
Roberta Bulgari ◽  
Antonio Ferrante ◽  
Piero Bruschi
Keyword(s):  
Taraxacum Officinale ◽  
Mineral Elements ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Nutrition And Health ◽  
Half Strength ◽  
Sanguisorba Minor ◽  
Hoagland Nutrient Solution ◽  
Phenolic Index

Wild plants may play an important role in human nutrition and health and, among them, many are the leafy species. We hypothesized that the wild greens could be profitably grown as microgreens and baby greens, specialty products whose market is increasing. We compared three wild leafy species (Sanguisorba minor Scop., Sinapis arvensis L., and Taraxacum officinale Weber ex F. H. Wigg.) harvested at the microgreen and baby green stages. Seedlings were grown hydroponically in a half-strength Hoagland nutrient solution under controlled climatic conditions. At harvest, the yield was assessed, and chlorophylls, carotenoids, anthocyanins, phenolic index, nitrate, and mineral elements were measured in the two types of product. The potential contribution to human mineral intake was calculated, and the possible risk due to the presence of metals potentially detrimental for health was estimated. Results showed that micro/baby greens of the studied wild plants achieved competitive yields and could contribute to the dietary intake of macroelements, microelements, and non-nutrient bioactive compounds. On the other hand, the wild greens showed high amounts of nitrate and traces of some metals potentially detrimental for health, suggesting the need for caution in the use of wild species for producing microgreens and baby leaves.

scholarly journals Medicinal Plants Traded in Informal Herbal Medicine Markets of the Limpopo Province, South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Marula Triumph Rasethe ◽  
Sebua Silas Semenya ◽  
Alfred Maroyi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Herbal Medicine ◽  
Medicinal Plant ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Herbal Medicines ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Prunus Africana ◽  
Plant Parts

Trading of herbal medicines generates economic opportunities for vulnerable groups living in periurban, rural, and marginalized areas. This study was aimed at identifying medicinal plant species traded in the Limpopo province in South Africa, including traded plant parts, conservation statutes of the species, and harvesting methods used to collect the species. Semistructured questionnaire supplemented by field observation was used to collect data from owners of 35 informal herbal medicine markets in the Limpopo province. A total of 150 medicinal plant products representing at least 79 plant species belonging to 45 botanical families, mainly the Fabaceae (11.4%), Asteraceae (7.6%), and Hyacinthaceae (6.3%), were traded in the study area. Roots (50.0%), bulbs (19.0%), and bark (16.0%) were the most frequently sold plant parts. Some of the traded species which includeAlepidea amatymbica, Bowiea volubilis, Brackenridgea zanguebarica, Clivia caulescens,Dioscorea sylvatica,Elaeodendron transvaalense, Encephalartos woodii,Eucomis pallidiflorasubsp.pole-evansii,Merwilla plumbea,Mondia whitei,Prunus africana, Siphonochilus aethiopicus, Synaptolepis oliveriana,andWarburgia salutarisare of conservation concern and listed on the South African Red Data List.Findings of this study call for effective law enforcement to curb illegal removal of wild plants especially those species that are at the verge of extinction.

scholarly journals Plant use in Muslim Spain: Preliminary results from the medieval town of Madīnat Ilbīra

2020 ◽  
pp. 296-306
Author(s):  
Maria Lityńska-Zając ◽  
Marian Rębkowski
Keyword(s):  
Taxonomic Diversity ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Hulled Wheat ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
Poppy Seeds ◽  
Wild Strawberry ◽  
Common Purslane ◽  
Muslim Spain ◽  
The Town

The paper presents preliminary results of archaeobotanical studies carried out at the Madīnat Ilbīra site in Spain. The functioning of the town, which was the capital of one of the administrative districts (kūras) of al- Andalus, falls in the period between the second half of the 9th century and the 11th century. However, the analysed soil samples were collected from archaeological contexts dated mostly to the last decades of the 10th century and to the 11th century. The samples yielded an interesting set of data about the preserved plant remains. Although the taxonomic diversity of the plants is not high, the analysis revealed remains of naked and hulled wheat (emmer wheat), millet, poppy seeds, perhaps peas, cucumber or melon, and grapevine. Although crop plants played an important role in the everyday diet of the town inhabitants, wild plants also were probably collected and used. The latter are represented in the analysed materials by, for example, wild strawberry, common mallow and common purslane. The preserved charcoal remains confirm the use of different species of wood as fuel.

scholarly journals USE OF SOME ETHNOMEDICINAL HERBS BY THE NATIVES OF SOLANG VALLEY, KULLU DISTRICT, HIMACHAL PRADESH

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maninder Kaur ◽  
Vijay Kumar Singhal ◽  
Jaswant Singh
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Ethnobotanical Study ◽  
Endemic Plant ◽  
Medicinal Uses ◽  
Vernacular Names ◽  
Plant Parts ◽  
Medicinal Use

Objective: The objective of the study was to enlist the ethnobotanical uses of wild plants of Solang Valley, Kullu District, Himachal Pardesh. Due to the specific geographical location of the valley, it possesses a high amount of endemic plant diversity. The plants are being used medically by local people against many ailments such as rheumatism, gastric disorders, muscular pain, asthma, dysentery, diabetes, constipation, cold, cough, fever, etc.Methods: For documentation of ethnomedicinal information, a questionnaire containing vernacular name, plant part/s used, medicinal uses, method of preparation and amount of dose taken was prepared. To gather such information, personal interviews/interactions were conducted with medicine men (vaids and hakims), local healers, village elders, tribals and shepherds.Results: Presently, 42 plant species belonging to 41 genera and 24 families are included for ethnobotanical study with respect to their scientific names, vernacular names, plant parts used, ethnomedicinal purposes, mode of preparation, and dose/amount taken. As many as 23 species are used for treating more than one ailment. By consulting the previous literature, it was found that there are 19 species which have not been reported earlier and are used by the natives for different medicinal purposes.Conclusion: The unsustainable harvesting such as uprooting of whole plant of medicinal use from the wild is resulting into a serious decline in plant populations. Therefore various cultivation techniques should be designed, and implemented especially for the highly medicinally important and endangered plant species. Grazing should be restricted in high altitudinal zones possessing high endemic plant diversity. Further, information gathered on ethnobotanical aspects of plants of medicinal use will be helpful in the selection of elite genotypes/chemotypes which could provide a base for future plantation programmes which will be helpful for sustainable development of the valley.

scholarly journals Harvest Techniques: Hand-Pulling and Its Potential Impact on the Archaeobotanical Record Vis a Vis Near Eastern Plant Domestication

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1215
Author(s):  
Shahal Abbo ◽  
Simcha Lev-Yadun ◽  
Avi Gopher
Keyword(s):  
Crop Plant ◽  
Plant Domestication ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Strong Argument ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
Arable Weeds ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Harvest Techniques

A “cultivation prior to domestication”, or a “pre-domestication cultivation” phase features in many reconstructions of Near Eastern plant domestication. Archaeobotanists who accept this notion search for evidence to support the assumption regarding a wild plant’s cultivation phase, which in their view, preceded and eventually led to plant domestication. The presence of non-crop plant remains in the archaeobotanical record interpreted as arable weeds, i.e., weeds of cultivation, is viewed as a strong argument in support of the pre-domestication cultivation phase. Herein, we show that the simple practice of harvest by hand-pulling (uprooting) has the potential to secure an almost weed-free harvest. Indeed, rather clean (weed-free) Neolithic seed caches from a range of relevant sites were documented in archaeobotanical reports. These reports, alongside ethnographic observations suggest that (in certain cases) ancient harvest may have been carried out by selective hand-pulling. Hence, one has no reason to view archaeobotanical assemblages from occupation sites as fully representative of cultivated fields. Therefore, the concept of “arable—pre-domestication weeds”, its logic, and its potential contribution to the prevailing reconstructions of Near Eastern plant domestication need be reconsidered.

scholarly journals Nutrient Component Analyses of Selected Wild Edible Plants From Hamirpur District of Himachal Pradesh, India: An Evaluation For Future Food

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ram Chand Bhatti ◽  
Rupinder Kaur ◽  
Abhishek Kumar ◽  
Viney Kumar ◽  
Siril Singh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Content ◽  
Wild Edible Plants ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Edible Plants ◽  
Scientific Evaluation ◽  
Mineral Contents ◽  
Plant Parts ◽  
Commercial Scale ◽  
Alternative Future ◽  
Boerhavia Diffusa

Abstract Background: Indigenous people of any particular region use various wild plants for their food, medicines, and other economic products. Many of these wild plants have been documented for their utilization as future foods and medicines based on these people's information. However, information about the nutrient components of many wild edible plants has yet to be scientifically tested. Therefore, this study evaluated the nutrient components of selected wild edible plants.Methods: A total of 21 species were selected for nutrient and mineral analyses from a total of 90 wild edible plants reported during the survey of 1720 households. Based on the reported edible use, different plant parts of each species were evaluated for their carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamin, and mineral contents. The obtained data were then analyzed using various quantitative indices to assess the selected wild edible plant's efficacy. Results: It was found that nutrient content considerably varied among all the selected species. Among the selected plant species, Digera muricata has the richest protein content, the tuber of Dioscorea sp. has plenty of carbohydrate content, and Dioscorea bulbifera has the highest fat content. Similarly, Spondias pinnata and Boerhavia diffusa were rich sources of vitamin C and vitamin E, respectively. Digera muricata was found to be promising future food based on overall nutrient composition. Conclusions: Several traditionally used wild edible plants can have surprisingly higher nutritional contents. These plants can offer a basis for developing dietary supplements and nutraceuticals on a commercial scale. Thus, scientific evaluation and validation of such underutilized plants and their products may prove an alternative future food for malnutrition people.

Evaluation of Anti-nutritional Compounds in Selected Wild Plants Consumed by Ruminants in Pasturelands

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (8) ◽  
pp. 233-239
Author(s):  
Jawaher Alkahtani ◽  
Mohamed Soliman Elshikh ◽  
Ayesha Khan ◽  
Kafeel Ahmad ◽  
Zafar Iqbal Khan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Chenopodium Album ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Mentha Arvensis ◽  
Edible Plant ◽  
Plant Parts ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Nutritional Compounds

The present study was designed to determine the anti-nutritional compounds in the wild plants of Soone valley Punjab, Pakistan. A wide range of anti-nutritional factors exists in the wild plants of this area which are consumed as forages by the ruminants. Few anti-nutritional compounds i.e. oxalate, phytate, saponins and tannins were analyzed during the course of study. Oxalate content ranged from 0.4467% to 0.6267%. The highest oxalate content was found in Chenopodium album and lowest oxalate content was available in Mentha arvensis. The content of phytate ranged from 3.8167% to 4.9767% in all wild forages. The maximum amount was observed in Buxus papillosa and minimum amount was found in Ahadota vasica. Saponins ranged from 2.2700% to 3.7833%. The percentage of tannins varies from 1.3167% to 1.6300% in all plant species. The optimum value of tannins was found in Adatoda vasica and low value of tannins was investigated in the Mentha arvensis among the investigated plant species. Overall, the maximum factors observed in Buxus papillosa and lowest in Mentha arvensis plants. The values estimated in the present study are below the mark as compared to the toxic levels. Nutritional and health issues are developed due to the large consumption of monotypic wild edible plant parts during one meal. However, anti-nutritional compounds related to respective risks are less with the use of traditional methods.

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