Utilisation of cultivated and wild plants in the economy of the linear pottery culture in the upper Vistula basin

Abstract

The current recognition of plant materials obtained from archaeological sites of the Linear Pottery Culture in the Upper Vistula basin made it possible to indicate the species that were cultivated and utilised by the Early Neolithic human communities. The data presented in this paper, referring to the occurrence of macroscopic plant remains of various types, was collected from 23 sites (97 identified taxa). The analyses covered charred remains of plants, their imprints in daub and pottery, and fragments preserved within the mass of clay used for production of ceramic vessels. The results of these studies have delivered a great number of interpretative opportunities; apart from reconstructions of the environment and economic behaviours of first farmers, these opportunities included the versatile application of plants, and clearly indicated that an application of plants and organic materials was highly diversified and constituted the grounds on which human economy of the Early Neolithic was based.