In the ratio of volume to finds: Distribution of plant remains at the Ivanec–Stari Grad site, and early-medieval dietary habits in the Sava-Drava interfluve

Abstract

Although still rare, archaeobotanical analyses have recently been carried out on samples from several early-medieval sites located in the wider area of the Sava-Drava interfluve. The analyses conducted have resulted in somewhat scarce results, and the data obtained provides only a general insight into dietary habits and agricultural activities in this region in the period between the 7th and 10th centuries. The lack of comprehensive and representative data limits these understandings, and new data obtained from the archaeobotanical analysis of plant remains from the Ivanec–Stari Grad (Castle) site, in northern Croatia, has the potential to more notably contribute to these findings. At this complex multi-period archaeological site, a compact and relatively thick early-medieval settlement layer has been discovered and systematically sampled. Among the archaeobotanical finds retrieved by water flotation of sediment samples, the large quantity of small-grained cereals (Panicum miliaceum, Setaria italica) and the few, but diverse, finds of legumes, and of cultivated and wild fruits, stand out. In addition, there is also an exceptionally high number of fruits of weed species (Echinochloa crus-galli, Polygonum lapathifolium, Chenopodium album), intra-site distribution of which can be directly linked to contexts with a high proportion of cereals. The situation established thereby, expanded by the analysis of comparable data sets, provides new insights into the dietary habits of the rural population in the Sava-Drava interfluve during the early Middle Ages.