What’s new during the first millennium BCE in Greece? Archaeobotanical results from Olynthos and Sikyon

• Published in: Journal of archaeological science, reports reports, 2021-04, Vol.36, p.102782, Article 102782
• Main Authors: Douché, Carolyne, Tsirtsi, Kyriaki, Margaritis, Evi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 1st millennium BCE; Archaeobotany; Greece; Humanities and Social Sciences; Polyculture; Sesame
• ISSN: 2352-409X; 2352-4103
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102782

•New archaeobotanical analysis at the 1st millennium BCE sites of Sikyon and Olynthos.•Diversified plant economy in ancient Greek cities.•Traditional Mediterranean polyculture based on cereals, pulses, olive, fig and grape.•Hundred charred sesame seeds recovered at Olynthos. This paper investigates agricultural practices during the 1st millennium BCE in Greece. New archaeobotanical data provide fresh insights on the plant economy at the urban centers of Sikyon and Olynthos, dated to the Archaic-Classical period. The results show that the staple economy of Sikyon and Olynthos was based on a broad spectrum. However, the analysis records the presence of taxa such as sesame (Sesamum indicum) and pine (Pinus pinea) that are usually absent in assemblages from Greece. In order to understand the role and the place of these sites within the ancient Greek world, we draw a wider comparison of the ubiquity of the main economic taxa using available archaeobotanical records, covering the Protogeometric period to the end of the Hellenistic period. This paper gives an overview of plants exploited during the 1st millennium BCE and also focuses on the unusual remains recently recovered.