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Archaeobotany

Since the beginning of Thessaloniki Toumba Excavation in 1985, an intensive and systematic sampling has been conducted for the detection of archaeobotanical remains.

Samples are taken from undisturbed units, such as floors, hearths, ovens, postholes, pits, constructions, storage jars, other vases and vessels. The processing of the samples is done with a specially made floatation device which is used for the collection of plant and other bioarchaeological remains, as well as of smaller findings that are not visible during the excavation (e.g. small beads), with the aid of the water flow and with the use of special sieves (minimum mesh opening 300m) and a strainer.

The study of the archaeobotanical material from Thessaloniki Toumba excavation started as a doctoral thesis by the prematurely deceased Maria Magkafa and continues under the supervision of the associate professor S.-M. Valamoti, who was trained on floatation in this excavation as an undergraduate student (photograph). The material constitutes the object of an MAthesis (Kotsachristou 2008) and of two doctoral theses in progress by the doctoral candidates Evgenia Gkatzogia and Angeliki Karathanou. In total, 1199 samples from Toumba have been thoroughly or preliminarily examined so far. The study of 351 samples of phases from the MBA and LBA periods from buildings M (trenches 032, 052, 053) and H (trench 054) at the Toumba slope by the archaeologist / archaeobotanologist Dimitra Kotzachristou, revealed a variety of plant types the inhabitants used. Four types of cereal and four types of legumes were identified in the material. The einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum L.), the emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum Schubl.), the "new type" wheat and barley (Hordeum vulgare vulgare L.) must have constituted an important part of the inhabitants’diet. The legumes identified include lentils (Lens sp.), vetch (Lathyrus sativus L.), broad beans (Viciafaba L.) and bitte rvetch (Viciaervilia(L) Willd.). Moreover, fruits and nuts, such as grapes (Vitis vinifera L.) and acorns (Quercus sp.) were traced.

The barley and the wheat were traced in pure concentrations in different areas within the two units. This indicates their separate cultivation and storage. The great variety of wild vegetation seeds found in the samples, along with cereal husks, imply either manure combustion, alluding to the pasture areas of the settlement, or to the existence of weeds in fields belonging to the settlement. The study of the seeds in the future is expected to reveal aspects of cultivation practices during the Bronze Age.