A new find of macrofossils of feather grass (Stipa) in an Early Bronze Age storage pit at Vliněves, Czech Republic: local implications and possible interpretation in a Central European context

• Published in: Vegetation history and archaeobotany 2005-12, Vol.14 (4), p.295-302
• Main Authors: Bieniek, Aldona, Pokorný, Petr
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abundance; Archaeology; Awns; Bedding; Bronze Age; Deforestation; Domestic animals; Feathers; Grains; Grasses; Herbivores; Insulation; Meadows; Peat; Plants; Pollen; Sharpness; Slavic culture; Spikelets; Steppes; Stone Age; Vegetation
• ISSN: 0939-6314; 1617-6278
• DOI: 10.1007/s00334-005-0076-9

The abundance of Stipa remains in material dated to the Middle Neolithic (ca. 4400—4000 B.C.) from Kujawy (central Poland) and their presence in a storage pit at Vliněves (Czech Republic) dated to the Early Bronze Age (ca. 2300—1600 B.C.) are most probably connected with gathering of the plant. Stipa grains are edible and the whole plant could have been used as insulation, for making mattresses and for a range of similar purposes. Nowadays spikelets of Stipa are used for decoration. They are dangerous to herbivores because of the sharpness of the basal part of the spikelet and the tendency of the awns to unroll in wet conditions. Already in the first half of the 20th century the plant was regarded as a weed of meadows. The gathering and use of Stipa, as suggested by the abundance of its archaeological macroremains, was most probably prompted by changes in the local environment. These latter arose from intensive human activity, mostly deforestation and grazing by domestic animals, leading to the formation of steppe-like vegetation. This process is documented by a pollen diagram from a peat section located near the Vliněves site.