Middle Neolithic farming of open-air sites in SE France: new insights from archaeobotanical investigations of three wells found at Les Bagnoles (L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Dépt. Vaucluse, France)

Abstract

Previous reviews of Middle Neolithic agricultural practice (4400–3500 cal bc) in southern France have highlighted a change in crop assemblages after 4000 cal bc, with a reduction of naked wheat and an increase of emmer and partly of einkorn. The recent investigation of three wells from the site of Les Bagnoles (4250–3800 cal bc) in the periphery of the southern Rhône valley yielded an unprecedented amount of waterlogged uncharred and charred plant macro remains that offer new insights into crop diversity and its changes over time. The results from the wells at Les Bagnoles were compared with other dated sunken features from open-air sites (in contrast to caves and rock shelters), with the aim of identifying patterns suggesting changes in the crop spectra between the early (MN1) and late (MN2) Middle Neolithic phases from taphonomically comparable contexts. The results from Les Bagnoles demonstrate that oil crops and pulses are underrepresented in dry sites and that they were a significant part of Middle Neolithic agriculture. They also indicate an increase in the representation of einkorn (instead of emmer) during MN2 that is also visible in other open-air sites. The comparison of the archaeobotanical results with silo storage capacity values as a proxy for average production capacity per household leads us to propose a possible drop in naked wheat productivity and opens new questions in factors affecting crop choice at the beginning of the 4th millennium cal bc.

Small Animals, Big Impact? Early Farmers and Pre- and Post-Harvest Pests from the Middle Neolithic Site of Les Bagnoles in the South-East of France (L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Vaucluse, Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur)

“…Furthermore, study of the plant remains from the three wells likewise has yielded compelling data on crop husbandry, agriculture development, and changes in crop cultivation during the Middle Neolithic. The plant findings also highlight a clear shift in the crop spectrum around 4000 cal B.C., a phenomenon identified elsewhere in southern France [ 3 , 12 , 24 , 25 ]. While the better-represented crops during the 5th millennium B.C.…”

“…The archaeobotanical and large mammal remains contained in well 250 reveal that activities related to the preparation and consumption of food were carried out in the immediate vicinity of the excavated structures [ 74 ]. Furthermore, the plant remains are compatible with the local vegetation of the time [ 12 , 24 , 75 ].…”

“…994 (3950–3750 cal B.C. ), place them in a later phase of the Middle Neolithic ( Figure S1b,c ) [ 12 , 73 , 76 ]. Moreover, its ”La Roberte”-type pottery places it in the Middle Neolithic.…”

“…This crop is well adapted to the Mediterranean climate and was easily threshed and stored as clean grain, but it is also often attacked by insect pests, who fed from the grains without hulls. After a long period of stability of the crop assemblage in the area, certain authors suspect an influence of a series of stress factors after 4000 B.C., such as an increase of soil erosion due to anthropogenic or natural fires, global cooling, hydrological oscillations, and periodical flooding [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ], coinciding with an apparent regional demographic decline (observed in southern France) [ 17 , 18 ]. These factors appear to have yielded an agricultural model where glume wheats gain in prominence [ 3 , 12 ].…”

“…nudum ), after 4000 cal B.C., glume wheats gained importance, and einkorn ( Triticum monococcum ) became the main regional crop during the 4th millennium B.C. Although several hypotheses venture to explain this change [ 12 ], it has never been possible to investigate an assemblage of waterlogged finds containing pre- and post-harvest pests in the framework of farming systems where the pests could have acted as agents of change (for a more detailed description of this regional shift, see [ 12 ]).…”