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Plant foods in the Upper Palaeolithic at Dolní Vӗstonice? Parenchyma redux

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2013

Alexander J.E. Pryor ,
Madeline Steele ,
Martin K. Jones ,
Jiří Svoboda  and
David G. Beresford-Jones
Alexander J.E. Pryor
Affiliation:
1Division of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DZ, United Kingdom
Madeline Steele
Affiliation:
2WeoGeo, Inc., 2828 SW Corbett Ave # 135, Portland, OR 97201, USA
Martin K. Jones
Affiliation:
1Division of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DZ, United Kingdom
Jiří Svoboda
Affiliation:
3Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlář ská 2, Brno, Czech Republic 4Institute of Archaeology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Královopolská 147, Brno, Czech Republic
David G. Beresford-Jones
Affiliation:
5McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3ER, United Kingdom
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Abstract

The classic image of Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers in Europe envisages them hunting large mammals in largely treeless landscapes. That is partly due to the nature of the surviving archaeological evidence, and the poor preservation of plant remains at such ancient sites. As this study illustrates, however, the potential of Upper Palaeolithic sites to yield macrofossil remains of plants gathered and processed by human groups has been underestimated. Large scale flotation of charred deposits from hearths such as that reported here at Dolní Vӗstonice II not only provides insight into the variety of flora that may have been locally available, but also suggests that some of it was being processed and consumed as food. The ability to exploit plant foods may have been a vital component in the successful colonisation of these cold European habitats.

Keywords

Czech RepublicDolní VӗstoniceUpper PalaeolithicGravettianarchaeobotanyplant foodsparenchyma
Type
Research articles
Information
Antiquity , Volume 87 , Issue 338 , December 2013 , pp. 971 - 984
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2013

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