Identification of Neolithic diet by the morphology of the starch grains of dental calculus found in the Dehesilla Cave (Cadiz – South of the Iberian Peninsula)

Abstract

The starch grains present in the dental calculus of four Neolithic individuals of the Dehesilla Cave (Cadiz, South of Spain) were extracted and observed with light microscopy. The variant of the extraction technique used proved to be very effective. A number of Poaceae-Triticeae taxa [wheat (Triticum sp., the main crop, including Triticum aestivum), barley (Hordeum sp.)], Fabaceae-Fabeae-Cicereae and Fagaceae (oaks = Quercus sp., which constitute new data for the area in question) were identified. Some pollen grains and fungal spores were also identified, which helped to provide information on the ecological framework of the crops associated with the archaeological site.