Complex pathways in plant-human relationships in changing environments: pollen, seeds, wood, molecules and weeds in the Early-Mid Holocene Sahara.

Abstract

This contribution is a survey of the research on the long-lasting relationship between plants and humans in the Holocene 'green' Sahara. Based on archaeobotanical data, including pollen and other plant remains, we present the complex dynamics of environmental instability and cultural trajectories, which had joint effects on plant communities and human behaviour in this area. The review illustrates the scientific methodological approach to archaeo-environmental reconstruction through case studies of ethnobotany and archaeobotany, showing the adaptation strategies of plants and humans living in changing environments since the Early Holocene, before and after desertification. Most of the plant species exploited during the Holocene in the Sahara were wild plants, and among them some wild grasses supplied food as cereals. Interestingly, these wild cereals are often considered weeds in modern agriculture as they belong to species with great phenotypic plasticity and opportunistic behaviour. The links between natural resources and their exploitation, environmental and climatic changes, resilience and adaptation are investigated in an interdisciplinary and holistic perspective.This article is part of the theme issue 'Unravelling domestication: multi-disciplinary perspectives on human and non-human relationships in the past, present and future'.