The use of wild plants in the palaeolithic and neolithic of Northwestern Africa: Preliminary results from the PALEOPLANT project

Abstract

This contribution presents preliminary results from PALEOPLANT, a European Research Council (ERC) multidisciplinary research project that focuses on the analyses of plant remains from Palaeolithic and Neolithic sites in North Africa. The project aims are to: (1) characterize wild plant exploitation among human communities; (2) refine current knowledge on past landscapes; and (3) improve archaeological methodology and fieldwork when studying plants. We discuss preliminary results from charred plant macroremains (wood, seeds and fruits) and plant microfossils (phytoliths and calcitic ash pseudomorphs), as well as dung spherulites recorded in several northwestern African sites spanning the Late Pleistocene to the Early-Middle Holocene (c. 33 to 2 ka BC). Charcoal assemblages indicate the presence of mixed oak/juniper woodlands during the Late Pleistocene while conifers become the dominant element of the vegetation during the transition from Late Glacial to Early Holocene. In these contexts, some of the main species of thermo- and meso-Mediterranean Holocene landscapes (Olea europaea, Pistacia, etc.) were already present but their spread occurred during the Middle Holocene, concurrently with Neolithic occupations. The combination of wood charcoal, other plant macroremains (seeds and fruits) and plant microfossils, including both plant and dung indicators, provide new insights not only into the presence of a wide range of plant resources (wild pulses, Ziziphus lotus, Pinus halepensis, Quercus sp., Stipa tenacissima and Chamaerops humilis) but also on the variability of their potential uses (including fuel, food, fiber, bedding, fodder). Archaeobotanical results suggest continuity in the use of wild plants during the Neolithic. In addition, wood charcoal assemblages reflect significant changes that occurred in plant composition including the expansion of thermo-Mediterranean species.