Could the grasses have played a role in the earliest salt exploitation? Phytoliths analysis of prehistoric salt spring from Hălăbutoaia - Ţolici (Romania)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5405043 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mihaela Danu (0000-0003-1552-0589, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, corresponding author), Claire Delhon (0000-0002-7216-0148, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Olivier Weller (0000-0003-4709-7455, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 11 |
| Publication date | 2020-11-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1866-9557 • E-ISSN: 1866-9565 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s12520-020-01228-6 |
| OpenAlex | W3096411205 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 68 |
The salt spring exploitation fromHălăbutoaia- Ţolici (Neamț County, Romania) dates back to the Early Neolithic and lasted throughout Chalcolithic. The deposit stratigraphy is estimated at 8 m and covers 2500 years of history (c. 6000-3500 BCE). In order to document the possible use of plants, particularly of the grasses, in the salt production process, we realized a detailed study of phytoliths preserved in several archaeological levels ofHălăbutoaiasite. The most identified morphotypes come from grass family. Analysis revealed an important representation of inflorescence bracts phytoliths (especially Elongate dendritic) showing the anthropogenic origin of the assemblages. Bilobateare also well represented. These forms attest the presence of wild panicoid grasses (e.g. wild millet) and/or cultivated millets in the area. In some very punctual assemblages, forms produced by dicots are well represented. Considering the low phytoliths production by dicots plants, it involves a special accumulation of these types of plants that could be related to woody plants used as fuel for salt production. It is very possible that grasses had a very important role in pyrotechnology used to produce salt, either as the main fuel or as a mean for controlling the temperature or even as a firelighter
Agriculture · Archaeology · Biology · Botany · Bract · Geography · Inflorescence · Paleobotany · Paleoethnobotany · Phytolith · Pollen · Prehistory · Rumex · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Silicon Effects in Agriculture
Phytolith assemblages as a promising tool for reconstructing Mediterranean Holocene vegetation
Preliminary Identification of Silica Skeletons from Near Eastern Archaeological Sites
Phytoliths
Phytoliths Analysis for the Discrimination of Foxtail Millet (Setaria italica) and Common Millet (Panicum miliaceum)
International Code for Phytolith Nomenclature 1.0
Potential of Opal Phytoliths for use in Paleoecological Reconstruction
Understanding Fossil Phytolith Preservation
Predicted World Distribution of C3 and C4 Grass Phytoliths
Morphological Classification of Grass Phytoliths
The opal phytolith inventory of soils in central Africa —quantities, shapes, classification, and spectra
International Code for Phytolith Nomenclature (ICPN) 2.0
Phytolith analysis
The Alteration of Neolithic Wood Charcoal from the Salt Spring of Poiana Slatinei in Lunca (Neamt, Romania)
Phytolithes et taphonomie, apport de l’expérimentation a la quantification des phytolithes dans les cendres de bois
Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlement patterns in central Moldavia (Romania)
Geoarchaeological Investigation in a Domestic Iron Age Quarter, Tel Megiddo, Israel
Holocene climate reconstruction based on herbaceous phytolith indices from an AMS 14C-dated peat profile in the Changbai Mountains, northeast China
Response of phytoliths in Phragmites communis to elevated CO2 concentration in Songnen Grassland, China
Alpine grassland palaeoecology of the Virunga Volcanoes, East Africa
Formation processes through archaeobotanical remains
Phytolith evidence of cereal processing in the Danube Delta during the Chalcolithic period
Taphonomy and phytoliths
Neo-Eneolithic settlement pattern and salt exploitation in Romanian Moldavia
Phytolith taphonomy in the middle- to late-Holocene fluvial sediments of Ounjougou (Mali, West Africa)
Bronze Age crop processing evidence in the phytolith assemblages from the ditch and fen around Fondo Paviani, northern Italy
Millets across Eurasia
Effect of fire on phytolith coloration
Investigating crop processing using phytolith analysis
Grass inflorescence phytoliths of useful species and wild cereals from sub-Saharan Africa
Stability of phytoliths in the archaeological record
Mode of Occupation of Tabun Cave, Mt Carmel, Israel During the Mousterian Period
Husbandry practices and livestock dung at the Numidian site of Althiburos (el Médéina, Kef Governorate, northern Tunisia)
Detection of Burning of Plant Materials in the Archaeological Record by Changes in the Refractive Indices of Siliceous Phytoliths
Shepherds and plants in the Alps
Ptolemaic Agriculture, “Syrian Wheat”, and Triticum aestivum
Early Neolithic household behavior at Tell Seker al-Aheimar (Upper Khabur, Syria)
Earliest salt working in the world
Archaeological Implications of a Phytolith Study at Tel Miqne (Ekron), Israel
Testing phytolith analysis approaches to estimate the prehistoric anthropogenic burning regime on the central California coast
First salt making in Europe
Morphometric distinction between bilobate phytoliths from Panicum miliaceum and Setaria italica leaves
| Highly cited | No |
|---|