Inside or outside the house? On the spatial organisation of plant-related activities at the Late Bronze Age settlement of Dobbin 27, northern Germany
-
Merle Oelbüttel
,
Dragana Filipović
Abstract
In northern Germany, crop diversity was much greater in the Late Bronze Age than in previous periods. To trace this development at a local scale, we conducted an archaeobotanical case study at the site of Dobbin 27, a rural settlement in north-eastern Germany dating to the Late Bronze Age. Charred seeds and fruits were recovered and the spatial distribution of these remains was analysed in order to understand the spatial organisation of plant-related activities at the site, principally plant processing. We discovered that the inhabitants processed cereals outside the house, in open areas of the settlement. Broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) were the most common finds in the archaeobotanical samples; small proportions of pulses and wild fruits and nuts were also found. This shows that a wide range of plants was used by the prehistoric community at Dobbin 27. A regional comparison of the plant macro-remains record from Dobbin 27 with that from contemporary sites reveals both differences and similarities in crop choices and other aspects of the plant economy.
Zusammenfassung
In Norddeutschland war das Kulturpflanzenspektrum in der Spätbronzezeit deutlich diverser als in den vorherigen Perioden. Um dies auf lokaler Ebene zu verstehen, wurde der Siedlungsfundplatz Dobbin 27 im Nordosten Deutschlands untersucht. An dem Fundplatz wurden systematisch Sedimentproben entnommen und anschließend die verkohlten Samen und Früchte bestimmt und ihre räumliche Verteilung wurde ausgewertet. Dadurch kann die räumliche Organisation pflanzenbezogener Aktivitäten am Fundplatz nachvollzogen werden. Das Getreide wurde außerhalb der Hausstruktur verarbeitet, im offenen Bereich der Siedlung. Rispenhirse (Panicum miliaceum) und Gerste (Hordeum vulgare) waren die dominierenden Nutzpflanzen in den Sedimentproben; in geringem Umfang wurden aber auch Hülsenfrüchte sowie Sammelpflanzen und Nüsse gefunden. Dies zeigt, dass die prähistorische Gemeinschaft in Dobbin 27 ein breites Spektrum an Pflanzen nutzte. Ein regionaler Vergleich der pflanzlichen Makroreste von Dobbin 27 mit denen von zeitgenössischen Fundstellen zeigt sowohl Unterschiede als auch Gemeinsamkeiten bei der Wahl der Kulturpflanzen und anderen Aspekten der Pflanzenwirtschaft.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Collaborative Research Centre 1266 ‘Scales of Transformation”, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) [DFG Project-ID 290391021].
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- Ein Nachruf auf Prof. Dr. Otto-Herman Frey (1.9.1929–4.4.2023) aus Sicht der slowenischen Archäologie
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelseiten
- Abhandlung
- An experimental approach to the study of amber processing in the Neolithic: technical analysis of the Siliņupe amber assemblage, 4th mill. BC, Latvia
- Six feet under – the Funnel Beaker megalithic graves under the Ahlen-Falkenberger Moor, Germany
- Mortuary palisades, single graves and cultural admixture: The establishment of Corded Ware culture on the Jutland Peninsula
- From the source to the sea − A regional study of Bronze Age depositions from eastern Funen, Denmark
- The Evil Twin: Older Bronze Age Ceramic Typology of the Nordic Circle
- Votive, Spielzeug, Gussformen, oder …? Zu den bronzezeitlichen Miniaturgefäßen in Istrien (Kroatien)
- Exploring the chronostratigraphy of a Bronze Age settlement through core drilling
- Inside or outside the house? On the spatial organisation of plant-related activities at the Late Bronze Age settlement of Dobbin 27, northern Germany
- A View to a Kilt – The Late Bronze Age Aegean Costume in the Context of Social and Cultural Changes
- Where are the missing boatyards? Steaming pits as boat building sites in the Nordic Bronze Age
- Nachruf
- Ein Nachruf auf Prof. Dr. Otto-Herman Frey (1.9.1929–4.4.2023) aus Sicht der slowenischen Archäologie
