Bjerre 7 is a modest Late Bronze Age house in Thy, Denmark. Excellent preservation and full-recovery techniques provided comprehensive evidence of farm self-sufficiency, local exchange, and amber collection for trade. Spatial analyses of ceramics, lithics, plant macrofossils, and amber identified distinctive activity areas at both ends of the house and outside. Routines are discussed for refuse disposal, ceramic use in everyday activities, ad hoc knapping and use of flint tools, plant processing, and amber storage. The household was economically generalized and largely self-sufficient, with limited specialization. Located close to the North Sea, the householders collected raw amber for trade. Metal was obtained from outside for a small-scale, household industry. Although some division of labour is likely, it seems that the whole household engaged in the diverse activities identified on site.

The Neolithic to Bronze Age transition (c. 5000–3500 BP) saw dramatic socio-economic developments in ancient China. Complex polities emerged in many regions, only to decline and collapse by the end of the period. In the Central Plains area, however, these centuries laid the foundations for China's first dynasties. This article presents zooarchaeological, palaeobotanical and isotopic research from key sites of the Central Plains spanning the period c. 5000–3500 BP. The results demonstrate that, contrary to narratives of the climate-induced collapse of these polities, Central Plains agricultural regimes intensified and diversified during the Neolithic to Bronze Age transition.

On 7–9 July 2016, the palaeontological association Agora Paleobotanica organised its fourth international meeting. It took place at the National History Museum of Brussels and was attended by 45 delegates. This special volume of the Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh compiles key papers presented at this meeting. The topics covered include a wide variety of Devonian to Miocene plant taxa, with exciting new data on both mega- and microfossils.

The small, intramontane San Giorgio Basin in southwestern Sardinia has yielded plant macrofossils dominated by sphenophytes, but with subsidiary pteridosperms, ferns, (?)noeggerathians and cordaitanthaleans. They belong to the upper part of the Crenulopteris acadica Zone or possibly the Odontopteris cantabrica Zone, indicating a late Asturian or Cantabrian (≡ late Moscovian) age. They therefore correlate with the post-Leonian deposits in northern Spain, the Nýřany Member in Western and Central Bohemia, and the Llantwit Beds in South Wales. The presence of post-tectonic deposits of this age is further evidence of the widespread influence of the Leonian Phase of tectonic activity in middle Asturian times, whose effect can be observed across Europe. The San Giorgio Basin is therefore a late Variscan rather than post-Variscan basin.

Based on recent vegetation distribution and an integration of macropalaeobotanical and palynological information, a palaeocommunity model is explored that may permit detailed interpretations of quantitative sporomorph distribution patterns in the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of NW-Europe in terms of changes in palaeoenvironment (sea-level, climate). The conceptual model is based on the recognition of Sporomorph Ecogroups (SEGs) that reflect broad co-existing plant communities, viz. upland, lowland, river, pioneer, coastal, and tidally-influenced SEGs. In successive palynological assemblages, shifts in the relative abundance of SEGs are thought to be indicators of sea-level changes. Climatic changes may be recognised through significant shifts within the quantitative composition of individual SEGs.

Biostratigraphical re-analysis of palaeobotanical data from the De Lutte-06 well clarifies an earlier controversy regarding the stratigraphical interpretation of this well based on palaeobotanical and palynological analysis. Previous biostratigraphical studies suggested an early Westphalian D age for the major part of the De Lutte formation, with only at the topmost part of the well remnants of presumable but unconfirmed Stephanian deposits. New identifications of palaeobotanical samples illustrate the presence of plant macrofossil assemblages in the De Lutte Formation characteristic for the latest Westphalian D to the Stephanian B-C. These new palaeobotanical insights, therefore, confirm a younger age for the De Lutte Formation and are more in line with the earlier palynological observations from the De Lutte-06 well that suggested that the recovered palynofloras resembled typical Stephanian associations.

The Fenestella Shale Formation of Jammu and Kashmir Himalaya comprises latest Viséan or Serpukhovian siliciclastic deposits formed along the southern margins of the Palaeotethys Ocean. A sequence of shallowing upward and deepening upward units indicates changes from shoreface to offshore and deeper shelf conditions, probably controlled by eustatic changes in an otherwise passive depositional system. Some of the finer-grained, shallow marine deposits have yielded fossil floras dominated by sub-arborescent lycopsids (Sublepidodendron, Lepidodendropsis) sphenophytes (Archaeocalamites) and pteridophylls (Nothorhacopteris, Triphyllopteris). The assemblage compares with other Gondwanan floras of this age that have been assigned to the Paraca floral realm, and are taken to indicate relatively warm climatic conditions that existed just prior to the onset of the Carboniferous–Permian ice-age.

The sub-fossil moss Pohlia nutans is recorded from lake sediment cores at Schirmacher Oasis, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. It was isolated from 160–162 cm depth of a sediment core. Radiocarbon (14C) dates by accelerator mass spectrometry confirmed its age to be 10.65 kyr bp. The preserved Holocene sub-fossil moss includes delicate leaves, axes and rhizoids and matches perfectly the extant specimens of P. nutans. This is the first record of this sub-fossil from Dronning Maud Land, although the species is common as present-day flora in other parts of the Antarctic. The present status of the moss flora of Schirmacher Oasis is also discussed, including its diversity, ecology and biogeography.

The Jurassic plant fossil record of Gondwana is generally meagre, which renders phytogeographic and palaeoclimatic interpretations difficult to date. Moreover, plant fossil assemblages mainly consist of impressions/compressions with rather limited palaeobiological and palaeoecological significance. We here present a detailed survey of new Early Jurassic plant assemblages from the Pliensbachian Shafer Peak Formation, north Victoria Land, Transantarctic Mountains. Some of the well-preserved fossils yield cuticle. The floras consist of isoetalean lycophytes, sphenophytes, several ferns, bennettitaleans, and conifers. In addition, three distinct kinds of conifer shoots and needles were obtained from bulk macerations. The composition of the plant communities is typical for Jurassic macrofloras of Gondwana, which underscores the general homogeneity of Southern Hemisphere vegetation during the mid-Mesozoic. Altogether, the plant fossil assemblages indicate humid and warm temperate conditions, which is in contrast to recent palaeoclimatic models that predict cool temperate climates for the continental interior of southern Gondwana during the Jurassic. However, there is no evidence for notable soil development or peat accumulation. The environmental conditions were apparently very unstable due to intense volcanic activity that resulted in frequent perturbation of landscape and vegetation, hampering the development of long-lived climax communities. Cuticles of bennettitaleans and conifers show xeromorphic features that may have been beneficial for growth in this volcanic environment.

Did the banana, yam and taro arrive in Australia at the hands of Europeans or come across the Torres Strait 2000 years before? Reviewing the evidence from herbaria histories and anthropology, the authors propose a ‘hierarchy of hypotheses’ and consider a still earlier option, that these food plants were potentially grown in Australia at least 8000 years ago, while it was still joined to New Guinea. This hypothesis, first proposed by Jones and Meehan in 1989, locates early horticultural experiments among peoples too often seen as inveterate hunter-gatherers.

We are very pleased to present a summary account of the People's Republic of China's project on the Origins of Chinese Civilization. It has focused on Late Neolithic and early Bronze Age sites of the Central Plains – the cultural heartland of the first three dynasties of Xia, Shang and Zhou. Particularly notable is the emphasis of methodology which was driven almost entirely by the archaeological sciences.

A summary is given of the lycophyte species as distributed in fifteen Euramerican coalfields during Asturian (Westphalian D) times. The datasets from the coalfields are analysed using unweighted pair group cluster analyses of Jaccard's Coefficients. Separate analyses were done on the full dataset (the full list of morphospecies) and on a more restricted dataset (only the morphospecies of vegetative organs). Three groupings of coalfields were resolved in the analyses. The two most clearly defined groupings represented the intramontane basin coalfields, and the coalfields of the lowland basins on the Variscan foreland where the lycophyte floras are well documented. The third grouping included those basins with less well-studied lycophyte floras, where the apparently low species diversity has undoubtedly affected the results. More work is needed on these poorly documented floras to produce a more rigorous phytogeographical analysis.

Vegetation diversity and pattern changes, and their relation to tectono-sedimentary histories are compared between selected Euramerican Late Palaeozoic coalfields, to understand better the controls on the dynamics of the Pennsylvanian terrestrial ecosystems and to demonstrate the problems with comparing data from various basins. The analysis is based on data from the following basins of different geotectonic and palaeogeographical positions: the cratonic Pennines Basin, the foreland South Wales and Upper Silesia basins, and the fault-related Intra Sudetic and Central and Western Bohemia basins. The analysis indicates that complex factors are responsible for changes in plant diversity and vegetation patterns. These are related to climate, tectonics, preservation potential, sampling biases and the current state of revision of the flora in each basin. Plant diversity patterns in the basins differ because of local controls and/or the character and detail of the available data. Maximum diversity varies among the basins within the Langsettian and Duckmantian substages. Two apparent step-like drops in diversity were detected within coal-bearing strata of most basins: at the Duckmantian/Bolsovian boundary and at the Bolsovian/Asturian boundary. Further and more prominent falls are related to transitions from coal-bearing to non-coal-bearing (mostly red bed) strata or vice versa during Stephanian times. Interpretation of climatic signals recorded in the sedimentary successions indicates that Westphalian and middle Stephanian times were wet intervals, whereas early and late Stephanian times were drier.

The South Wales Coalfield has the most complete Westphalian macrofloral record anywhere on the Variscan Foreland or adjacent basins, with 135 biodiversity-meaningful morphospecies having been recognized. All of the standard macrofloral biozones of the Westphalian Stage have been recognized, although a detailed comparison with the Central Pennines Coalfields has indicated some discrepancies in the relative positions of the biozonal boundaries. Total Species Richness progressively increases through the Langsettian Substage, and then remains relatively stable through most of the Duckmantian and Bolsovian substages. There is a distinct reduction in Total Species Richness towards the top of the Bolsovian Substage, but this partially recovers in the middle Asturian Substage with the appearance of a range of marattialean ferns, and medullosalean and callistophytaleans pteridosperms. There is no evidence of any significant drop in Total Species Richness towards the top of the succession, indicating that conditions at this time were relatively stable. The change from coastal floodplain to alluvial braidplain conditions in middle Bolsovian times correlates with a marked increase in the proportion of medullosalean remains being preserved in the adpression record, reflecting an expansion of the clastic-substrate habitats.

Dating Jurassic terrestrial floras in the Antarctic Peninsula has proved problematic and controversial. Here U–Pb series dating on detrital zircons from a conglomerate interbedded with fossil plant material provide a maximal depositional age of 144 ± 3 Ma for a presumed Jurassic flora. This is the first confirmed latest Jurassic-earliest Cretaceous flora from the Latady Basin, and represents some of the youngest sedimentation in this basin. The presence of terrestrial sedimentation at Cantrill Nunataks suggests emergence of the arc closer to the Latady Basin margin in the south compared to Larsen Basin in the north, probably as a result of the failure of the southern Weddell Sea to undergo rifting.

Cuisine, argues the author, is like language – it can be adopted, adapted or modified through time. The evidence from actual words for food is also used, together with seed assemblages and types of pottery to chronicle changing food cultures in Neolithic and later India. While some new food ideas (like African millets) were incorporated into existing agricultural practice as substitute crops, others such as the horsegram and mungbean appear to have moved from south to north with their pots (and probably the appropriate recipes) as a social as well as a dietary innovation.

A new permineralized fossil plant assemblage is described from volcaniclastic tuff collected in the Upper Permian (Wuchiapigian to Changhsingian) Xuanwei Formation at Shanjiaoshu mine, Guizhou Province, China. The assemblage is fragmentary but contains a small sphenopsid strobilus, a partial strobilus of a lepidodendralean lycopsid, pinnae of the filicalean fern Anachoropteris and a filicalean non-laminate fertile pinna rachis, the marattialean ferns Eoangiopteris, Scolecopteris and Psaronius, hooked stems of probable gigantopterid affinity, and two kinds of cardiocarpalean ovules. This represents the first indisputable evidence of Anachoropteris from the Permian of China, and contrasts with previous evidence from Europe and North America that indicates this genus became extinct during earliest Permian times. The assemblage highlights the persistence of plants from wetland communities and mire ecosystems into the Upper Permian of southern China, and adds further support to the presence of the Ameriosinian phytogeographical realm. This represents the first record of a plant assemblage preserved in volcaniclastic sediments from the Upper Permian of southern China, and in combination with other recently discovered plant assemblages in similar deposits in southern China, suggests volcanism to be an important factor in facilitating permineralized plant preservation in this realm. Although the source of the volcanism that produced the tuff is unknown, its age and location are consistent with the Emishan Large Igneous Province (LIP) of southwest China.

Anatomically preserved plant fragments are reported from Devonian marine deposits exposed in the Dra Valley of southern Anti-Atlas, Morocco. Associated conodont and tentaculite faunas indicate that the sediments yielding plants, which consist of black shales with intercalated calcareous concretions, are early Frasnian in age and most probably represent Zone 2 of the conodont zonation. This is the first record of Frasnian plants in North Africa. The specimens found all correspond to decorticated portions of axes. Six are referable to Callixylon, the organ genus corresponding to anatomically preserved axes of the progymnosperm tree Archaeopteris. Based on wood characters, especially ray structure, they are assigned to the species C. henkei, formerly described from the Famennian of Europe. One single specimen is compared to Xenocladia, a cladoxylopsid genus previously known from the Middle Devonian of Europe, USA and Kazakhstan. Interestingly, Archaeopteridales and Cladoxylopsida are two groups that dominate the younger plant assemblages of Famennian age recently described from the eastern Anti-Atlas. Callixylon henkei-type axes occur both in the Frasnian and in the Famennian deposits of the Anti-Atlas and they are all devoid of growth rings. These results are in accordance with a close position of Gondwana and Euramerica during Late Devonian times.