Evaluation of the representation of the taxa within the ecological groups

Cultivated plants: cereals, oil plants and legumes

Seven taxa from potentially cultivated plants were identified. Cereals were present in 75% of the 32 samples with more than one taxon. They were more abundant in storage pits, especially in the feature SJ-01 (UE103, UE108, UE109), where more than 1500 remains were recovered, with densities of between 13 and 25 remains per litre of sediment. UE 108 and 109 are at the bottom of the pit and UE 103 at a medium depth (Fig. 4.36). Naked barley was the best represented cereal both in a quantitative sense and considering its

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ubiquity (Fig. 4.12), followed by naked wheat. One fragment of grain produced prior to charring was recovered in UE103 of SJ-01.

Naked wheat was present in 18,75% of the samples, in features SJ-01, SJ-07 and SJ-24 (storage pits), and FS-29 (a pit). It appeared in low concentrations, below 1 remain per litre. Emmer was recovered in 12,5% of the samples, but only a very low number of grains were identified. Einkorn was only identified in UE154, in the storage pit SJ-19.

Only cereal grains were recovered, no chaff remains or fragments of straw.

Pea was, after naked barley, the best represented cultivated taxon (present in c. 28% of the samples). It was found in storage pits, always in low amounts. Poppy and flax were much more scarcely represented. Poppy was found in 15,6% of the structures and flax in 3,1%.

The identification of poppy as a cultivar was done on an ecological basis, since the wild variety of poppy is extremely rare above 1200 m a.s.l. in our region at present.

Naked barley Naked wheat Emmer Einkorn Flax Poppy Pea

Naked barley X X X X X X

Naked wheat X X X X X

Emmer X X X X

Einkorn X X X

Flax X X X X

Poppy X X X X

Pea X X X X X X

Fig. 4.15. Co-occurrence of the different cultivars in the samples from Camp del Colomer.

By the co-occurrences of the different cultivars in the samples (Fig. 4.15) one can observe that naked barley, naked wheat and pea appeared with most of the taxa, while flax and poppy were never recovered in the same samples than the glume wheats.

Weeds and ruderals

Fourteen taxa and 343 remains were ascribed to this group. They were present in c. 65,3% of the samples.

The better represented taxa were Thlaspi arvense (ubiq.: 46,8%), Chenopodium album (ubiq.: 25%), and Polycnemum arvense (ubiq.: 21,9%). Six samples had more than ten weed macroremains: UE 245 from the dwelling pit EI-2, UE103, UE108 and UE109 from the storage pit SJ-01, UE127 from the storage pit SJ-07 and UE 210 from the storage pit SJ-24. The four samples that yielded more than 35 weed items were represented in Fig. 4.16 in order to evaluate the relative proportions considering the number of remains per taxon. T. arvense is dominant in UE103 and UE109, but UE 108 and especially UE210 presented a much wider diversity, yet with a significant presence of T. arvense. Urtica dioica is better represented in UE 108.

In UE103, UE108 and UE109 (all from SJ-01), a large number of cereals were also recovered.

Some sparse finds of macroremains from this group were found in several structures where no cultivars were present. In these pits (EI-11, EI-12, EI-3, EI-40, EI-46, FS-4 and FS-26) and one of the dwelling pits (E-02)

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Chenopodium album, Polygonum aviculare, Polygonum convolvulus and Polycnemum arvense were recovered.

It is worth to highlight the presence of two toxic taxa: Hyoscyamus niger and Solanum nigrum.

Fig. 4.16. Relative propotions of the remains of weeds and ruderals per sample in Camp del Colomer (only the samples with more than 35 items are shown).

Pastures and grasslands

Four taxa were included in this group, and they appeared in 6.25% of the samples. They were only identified in the UE 238 of the pit EI-40 and in the UE210 of the storage pit SJ-24.

Woodland

Five taxa were identified within this group, a total number of 675 items. They appeared in around 80% of the samples. The largest concentrations of items were in features FS-28, FS-29, FS-39, FS-45 (these are all pits) and SJ-7 (a storage pit). FS-28 and FS-29 as well as SJ-7 were associated with hazelnuts, while FS-39 and FS-45 were associated with acorns (see their location in Fig. 4.11).

Corylus avellana was the best represented taxon, both considering number of items and ubiquity (56,25%).

Only hazelnut shell fragments were recovered. Charred cotyledons of acorns were present in 21,9% of the samples. They probably belonged to a deciduous variety of Quercus, considering the results of the anthracological analyses (see chapter 3.1.2.4).

Furthermore, some fragments of fruits and seeds of apples and pears (especially from the first one) were also recovered. Wild apple appeared in 15,6% of the samples.

The distribution of the taxa in the different stratigraphic units showed some clear patterns. Around 75% (n:

14) of the samples that contained hazelnut shells did not contain any other of the mentioned fruits. Three samples only yielded fragments of acorns, and two samples only contained fragments of wild apple/pear fruits. Only four samples showed some mixture, especially UE210 of the storage pit SJ-24 (this is a relatively small stratigraphic unit in an intermediate position within the stratigraphy of the storage pit), where all taxa were identified.

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Finally, some seeds of Veronica cf. officinalis, also from woodland areas, were identified in several features.

Woodland edges and clearings

This group was represented by five taxa. It was present in 25% of the samples and the best represented taxon was Fragaria vesca (ubiq.: 21,9%). Most of the remains were recovered in UE210 from the storage pit SJ-24.

As a mode of summary, it must be highlighted that the plant spectrum at Camp del Colomer was very diverse. Several cereals could have been cultivated, among which naked barley was the better represented taxon. But also two potentially cultivated oil plants were identified: flax and poppy. It is very significant to note that pea was also very frequently encountered in these samples.

The weed spectrum was dominated by Thlaspi arvense, which was also very ubiquitous. Plants from woodland and woodland edges were dominated by Corylus and Fragaria. It is significant to note that many structures had pure finds of one of the woodland taxa and that mixtures were rare. It was observed that UE210 (from the storage pit SJ-24) was especially particular because it had a good representation of many wild taxa from all of the ecological groups.