In contrast to animal foods, wild plants often require long, multistep processing techniques that involve significant cognitive skills and advanced toolkits to perform. These costs are thought to have hindered how hominins used these foods and delayed their adoption into our diets. Through the analysis of starch grains preserved on basalt anvils and percussors, we demonstrate that a wide variety of plants were processed by Middle Pleistocene hominins at the site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov in Israel, at least 780,000 y ago. These results further indicate the advanced cognitive abilities of our early ancestors, including their ability to collect plants from varying distances and from a wide range of habitats and to mechanically process them using percussive tools.

Over and again, arable land in the coastal areas of the western Netherlands was smothered by sand drift. The buried fields provide a unique insight into the way they were tilled. Tilling tools leave traces in the soil which appear during excavations. The study of these traces shows that more than one type of tool was in use during the last centuries BCE. The tools comprise several types of ard and a mouldboard plough. The latter was used in tilling the same soils as the ard and was a common implement far before the Middle Ages.

The Zerqa Triangle in Jordan is a steppe zone with low annual precipitation and high potential evaporation. The region is not suited to dry farming, at least not on a reliable scale. This applies not only to the present, but also to a long stretch of the past. From c. 2300 BCE onwards, the climate was comparable, with the exception of a number of short wetter intervals. The prevailing assumption is that from the Late Bronze Age onwards the in-habitants of the Zerqa Triangle subsisted on products from irrigated land.A means to test the validity of this assumption is to measure the ?C-13 value of their crops. This figure offers insight into the water availability during the growth of the plants. Barley crops from three sites in the Zerqa Triangle with dates from 1100 BCE to CE 1225 were analysed. The grain was grown during periods with dry climatic conditions. The outcome is that the barley fields were not well-watered, but were not as dry as the present-day rainfed fields in dry south-west Morocco (Styring et al., 2016) or the runoff fed fields in tributary wadis in the Negev Desert (Van Bommel et al., 2021). It might be that truly rainfed fields were cultivated in addition to irrigated fields and gardens during the successive periods. That irrigation systems existed is known (Kaptijn, 2009). An alternative is the combination of crop raising based on precipitation with some boosts from irrigation. Anyhow, the assumption that crops could only be obtained through a well-functioning irrigation system should be questioned.

The extent of vegetation openness in past European landscapes is widely debated. In particular, the temperate forest biome has traditionally been defined as dense, closed-canopy forest; however, some argue that large herbivores maintained greater openness or even wood-pasture conditions. Here, we address this question for the Last Interglacial period (129,000-116,000 years ago), before Homo sapiens-linked megafauna declines and anthropogenic landscape transformation. We applied the vegetation reconstruction method REVEALS to 96 Last Interglacial pollen records. We found that light woodland and open vegetation represented, on average, more than 50% cover during this period. The degree of openness was highly variable and only partially linked to climatic factors, indicating the importance of natural disturbance regimes. Our results show that the temperate forest biome was historically heterogeneous rather than uniformly dense, which is consistent with the dependency of much of contemporary European biodiversity on open vegetation and light woodland.

The drift sand area near Hilversum, the Netherlands, holds a geo-archive with multiple drift sand phases and intercalated palaeosols. We studied this area to test earlier theories on the development of podzols in such aeolian sands, the occurrence of sand drifting, and the contemporary vegetation development, and to gain insight into the early human impacts on these fragile ecosystems. Based on OSL and radiocarbon datings, palae-oecological studies, and soil chemical analyses, the age and origin of the drift sand phases and palaeosols were established. Sand drifting started around 6000 BCE (Late Mesolithic), the drift sand covering a distinct podzol in the Younger Cover Sand II. A second Late Mesolithic drift sand phase dated from ca. 4900-4500 BCE. Three later drift sand phases were distinguished of which the last is the classic Late Medieval (and younger) phase, while the first two date from the Neolithic. All intercalated palaeosols exhibited more or less prominent podzolisation. The palaeocological data showed that, prior to the Neolithic, in the forest open patches had developed with non -arboreal vegetation, dominated by Poaceae and Ericaceae. This changed during the Neolithic, most probably linked to the introduction of crop farming, the vegetation gradually acquiring the characteristics of the classic heathland with patches of trees/shrubs. The early sand drifting, podzolisation and opening of the forest are attributed to Mesolithic land use, with intentional burning as major factor. We conclude that the local destruction of the deciduous forests by fire and associated creation of open patches with bare sand were essential for the early sand drifting and podzolisation to occur. The results shed new light on the origin of drift sands, heathlands, and podzols in the Netherlands, and on the environmental impacts of Mesolithic people, and testify to the fundamental instability of these dry inland dune ecosystems.

The loss of diversity in the Dutch arable weed flora due to modern farming methods is considerable and the disappearance of a former rich flora embellishing the fields is much deplored. It led to the creation of arable flora reserves. But since when were crops accompanied by so many species? This contribution explores the history through time, from the earliest agriculture in the Netherlands, 5300 BC, to relatively modern times. The data originate from archaeological sources, as written texts are not suited to the purpose. The study focuses on the character species of the phyto-sociological class Stellarietea mediae T??xen, Lohmeyer et Preising in T??xen 1950. Such plants arrived in human settlements together with crops. Considered are charred remains. Plants may have arrived in archaeological sites in different ways, but remains affected by fire are related to human actions. The intentional burning of crop processing waste, or the store struck by lightning, have an anthropo-genic background. Therefore, charred remains are the most reliable source. Forty species were suited to the purpose, because their remnants can be identified to species level. From 37 species archaeological remains were reported. For an additional check, waterlogged remains are considered to assess whether this approach does not end in an erroneous result. The black cells of Table 2 refer to charred conditions and the red cells to the earliest appearance in waterlogged records. Time is expressed in archaeological periods, ranging from Early Neolithic to Middle Ages and later (Table 1). The outcome of the check is that some species were present earlier, possibly even as field weeds, than deduced from their appearance as charred specimens. The result of the analysis is that the number of species increases in the course of the millennia, even when correc ted for changes in harvesting methods. Over time harvesting with sickles changed into harvesting with scythes, involv-ing a change in cutting height. Cutting relatively high on the stalk with a sickle results in leaving low-growing plants behind on the field. Table 3 presents the share of three height classes in the periods before and after the introduction of scythe-like implements in the second part of the Iron Age. The switch to another harvesting implement may have had an effect, but does not account for the appearance of the entire set of low-growing herbs. Therefore, the increase in species must be real. A striking observation is that the earliest Dutch crop weeds (Table 4) are also those that survive modern farming. These are, for instance, Cockspur grass (Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) P. Beauv.), Fat hen (Chenopodium album L.) and Chickweed (Stella??a media L.).

Studies of ancient lake sites in Germany suggest landscape manipulation by prehistoric hunter-gatherers, 125,000 years ago.

Distal tephra from the major Somma-Vesuvius Avellino (AV) eruption is widespread in the coastal basins of Southern Lazio (Central Italy). Dated to 1995 +/- 10 cal yr BC in 2011, later on doubts arose about the reliability of this frequently cited age. This led to a major effort to date AV tephra holding sections, based on a thorough methodological approach. Various aspects were studied to identify sections yielding reliable C-14 ages, including bioturbation, inbuilt age, and variable sediment accumulation rate. Lowered rates upon deposition of tephra, particularly in anoxic marshy environments and attributed to toxic F contents, showed up as sharp increases in pollen density. The 'sampling error' was quantified for specific sedimentary environments and derived from coring data and published data on accum|ulation rates for similar Central Mediterranean sites. Next, two Bayesian analyses were performed, a traditional using the full set of samples and a novel, based on samples that were deemed as suitable (no bioturbation, inbuilt age, etc.) and of which the age was corrected for the sampling error. The age obtained by the novel analysis had the smallest range (1909-1868 cal yr BC), differs about a century, and is virtually identical to the ages published by Passariello et al. (2009) and Alessandri (2019). The earlier found age (2011) is ascribed to a statistical coincidence. The results solve a long debate on the age of the AV eruption, which is the youngest of the three major eruptions in the Central Mediterranean Bronze Age. Ages of the other two, the Agnano Mt Spina (Phlegrean) and FL eruption (Etna), are still uncertain and disputed. This study illustrates the need for a thorough approach in C-14 dating tephra holding sediment archives in the Central Mediterranean, and employed a methodology that can be applied in such approach. Attention is called for potentially toxic fluorine concentrations in Campanian tephra, which may have had a serious impact on the contemporary environment and induced chronological hiatuses, but hitherto were not reported for the early tephra.

This chapter is about the contribution pollen analysis can make to archaeological research. It discusses the potential of the single species, pollen combined in a single spectrum, and the pollen diagram. Examples are presented of each category and, in the case of pollen diagrams, of the way of presenting the data. Sources of pollen, sampling methods, and the treatment of the material are mentioned. The chapter ends with a discussion on the biases encountered during the interpretation of the results.

The individual found buried semi-cremated during the excavations at Oegstgeest was a young adult male. The combined Sr-O isotope analysis did not provide evidence for a non-local origin, although a place of birth in a different region cannot be excluded. During the first years of his life he suffered from periods of malnutrition and/or illness. At the time of death, he suffered from a disease in the respiratory system that was contracted earlier in life. His burial was intended to be a cremation, perhaps following a bustum ritual. The cremation was not entirely effective. Burial of a semi-cremated body was the result.

Following a synthesis of published archaeological investigations in the territory of Sezze by the team of the University of Groningen within the Pontine Region Project (PRP), this paper discusses the methodology and first results of two more recent fieldwork projects within the framework of the PRP, both funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO): 1) the Avellino Event Project (AVP) of the universities of Groningen and Leiden that studies the distal effects of the great Bronze Age eruption of mount Vesuvius on the human environment of the Fondi and Pontine plains. 2) the Minor Centres project that studies the development of the settlements of Forum Appi and Ad Medias along the Via Appia in relation with the development of the Roman countryside. Both projects add significantly to the long term reconstruction of the human landscape in the plain south of Sezze as well as open up perspectives on further interdisciplinary work.

This paper describes an experiment to provide baselines for the δ15N values of prehistoric cereals. Emmer wheat and barley were grown in tubs filled with two different substrates and placed in a cage to protect them from birds and cats. The experiment lasted three years. Values obtained in this way may serve in cases where no experimental farms of long standing with unmanured fields can provide them. The results are in line with the values obtained at such farms, as well as with values presented for ethnographic cases in the literature.

Following a synthesis of published archaeological investigations in the territory of Sezze by the team of the University of Groningen within the Pontine Region Project (PRP), this paper discusses the methodology and first results of two more recent fieldwork projects within the framework of the PRP, both funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO): 1) the Avellino Event Project (AVP) of the universities of Groningen and Leiden that studies the distal effects of the great Bronze Age eruption of mount Vesuvius on the human environment of the Fondi and Pontine plains. 2) the Minor Centres project that studies the development of the settlements of Forum Appi and Ad Medias along the Via Appia in relation with the development of the Roman countryside. Both projects add significantly to the long term reconstruction of the human landscape in the plain south of Sezze as well as open up perspectives on further interdisciplinary work.

The vegetation history of the area around the confluence of the rivers Meuse and Swalm (the Netherlands) during the Middle Ages is covered by two pollen diagrams. The diagram Swalmen reveals a large-scale deforestation as a result of the foundation of a nobleman's homestead around 950. The diagram Syperhof shows a period during which the forest partly returns after a long history of unremitting anthropogenic stress. This temporary phenomenon is ascribed to the onslaught of the Black Death in 1349. Both diagrams provide evidence of the start of buckwheat growing.

The infill of an abandoned branch of the small river Vlootbeek, a tributary of the Meuse, revealed a record of the vegetation history from the Allerod to the Middle Ages, albeit with at least two hiatuses in its upper reach. Striking observations are the continuous presence of Pinus in a period long after this tree was absent elsewhere in the Dutch landscape, and the high percentages of Tilia pollen in the mid-Holocene. The former is explained by the sandy-gravelly subsoil in the valley of the Vlootbeek. The latter is ascribed to the short distance between the coring location and the plateau on which Tilia must have been the dominant tree. Anthropogenic influence is apparent from the Early Neolithic Linearbandkeramik farmers onwards.

(1) Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9515, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands (marksier@gmail.com), (2) Paleomagnetic Laboratory ‘Fort Hoofddijk’, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geosciences Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 17, 3584 CD Utrecht, The Netherlands, (3) National Center for Human Evolution (CENIEH), Paseo Sierra de Atapuerca s/n, 09002 Burgos, Spain, (4) Romisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Forschungsbereich Altsteinzeit, Schloss Monrepos, 56567 Neuwied, Germany

In recent years it was discovered that the Middle to Late Holocene infi ll of the Agro Pontino graben (Central Italy) held a tephra layer originating from the Avellino eruption of the Vesuvius volcano. The eruption is dated to 1995 ± 10 calBC and took therefore place during the Early Bronze Age. This was a violent eruption, covering large parts of Campania, the region in which the volcano is situated, with its ashes. The local population had time to fl ee, but did not return for a period of hundreds of years. One of the possibilities is that people fl ed to the quiet Agro Pontino, at a distance of 120 km, to settle. The fact that the low-lying parts of the graben hold wet, organic deposits of the appropriate age, containing the Avellino tephra layer, provided an opportunity to assess whether an infl ux of new inhabitants is discernable directly after the Avellino event, as a substantial number of newcomers might be detected by an intensifi cation of anthropogenous stress on the environment. The question is tackled by means of pollen analysis, plant macro-remains, malacology and a small excavation. The outcome of these investigations shows that some impact on the environment is visible, but that it is far from clear whether this effect is due to people from abroad or due to an increase of the local population.

Due to favorable conditions of preservation, sedimentary basins provide rich records of human behavior and its environmental context. The conditions for the preservation of archaeological material however vary between basin types (large, river‐fed or small, closed basins), while conditions also differ within a particular basin environment. The goal of this paper is to understand how the dynamics of a small postglacial basin such as Neumark‐Nord 2, a context that dominates the Eemian archaeological record, affected the archaeology situated at its basin margin. The approach used here is to correlate the archaeological record with reconstructions of patterns of deposition and the water conditions within the basin, using lithology, micromorphology, pollen, and macroremains from a transect running from the basin center to the margin. The results show that (1) find levels were exposed to overland flow‐induced winnowing, which vertically concentrated finds but did not cause significant transport, (2) find levels correspond to phases of increased water presence in the basin, and (3) lateral shifts in hominin activity areas may reflect adjustments in the water level. The research shows the importance of large‐scale archaeological excavations and a multidisciplinary sampling strategy that covers both the basin center and the margins, when studying postglacial basin localities like Neumark‐Nord 2.