IDENTIFICAREA MACRORESTURILOR VEGETALE DESCOPERITE ÎNTR-UN SIT APARŢINÂND PERIOADEI NEOLITICULUI DEZVOLTAT
MACRO BOTANICAL DETERMINATION FROM A MIDDLE NEOLITHIC SITE

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this paper is to present the macro botanical determination results from Limba- Bordane site. We were surprised to see among the results four interesting identifications. The charred seeds represent a typical crop suite for Neolithic times: Triticum monococcum, Einkorn, Triticum cf. dicoccum, Emmer, Panicum miliaceum, millet, Lens culinaris and cf. Pisum sativum (the cf. means that it is not possible to determine it for sure, because some characteristics are missing). But it’s not the complete spectrum which could be expected: Hordeum vulgare, barley, and Linum usitatissium, linen, are missing. In a general plan, these seem to be in conformity with results from Germany and Austria, where barley is not in every “Älteste Bandkeramik” settlement. The first surprising identification is that of Panicum miliaceum, millet, which is known from Bandkeramik times but is very rarely found. It is very possible that millet found in Limba to be the very oldest sample, ever found in Romania (until now) and in the east of Europe (in Soroki, southwest Russia, there is one claim from the first half of the 5th millennium BC). Second interesting identification is that of a fruit stone of cornelian cherry, Cornus mas. Such fruit stone has not been found very often from Neolithic times, as far as we know. Generally we don’t find fruit remains very often, when the plant remains is charred. This is a special evidence. The third surprising identification is that of Anthemis cf. tinctoria, which is a chamomile like plant used for dying, and as far as we know, it has never been documented in Neolithic times. We have to keep it in the stage of “cf” because it is very difficult to distinguish it from Anthemis ruthenica. The last interesting determination is that of Sambucus nigra, black elder, which are the oldest remains on the Romanian territory, revealed in our site. A retrospective view on the results from Limba site, show us the fact that, some of the earliest plant remains used in the Neolithic communities diet were identified in our settlement. After studying the specialized bibliography we found similarities of botanical spectrum from Limba (earliest Vinča) with Bandkeramik settlements from Central Europe (Germany and Austria).

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