| Viewing swaag.org website implies consent to set cookies on your computer. Full details | Swaledale and
Arkengarthdale Archaeology Group Registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation Number 1155775 |
SWAAG Honorary President:
Tim Laurie F,S,A, |
| SWAAG News Archive | |
| News Archive | |
| Botanical remains at Healaugh | |
| Marijke Van der Veen, Emeritus Professor at Leicester University, was our speaker in February. She has published a paper on the excavations undertaken by Tim Laurie and Andrew Fleming on the house platforms at Healaugh, in Swaledale (1988-1990). As an archaeobotanist she focusses on macrofossils, such as seeds, grains, and chaff, which can be used to discover more about agriculture in the past, for example, the transition to farming, crops, diet, animal fodder, and trade. Healaugh provided only 17 sediment samples, but the botanical remains still provide a valuable insight into farming and the natural environment in the late Iron Age and early to mid-Roman period. The full paper can be downloaded from the SWAAG website under publications. Marijke also placed the site in its context. The Romans were responsible for introducing large numbers of new food crops to Britain. Some, such as carrots, plums, and walnuts, thrived in the climate and continued to be grown after the Romans left, whilst the cultivation of others, such as olives, grapes, and fennel, declined. The relative proportions of spelt wheat and bread wheat grown also changed over time as did their geographical distribution. In this country fruits, vegetable, herbs, and nuts survive best in waterlogged conditions, whilst cereals and pulses survive best when charred. Waterlogged conditions occur mostly on military and urban archaeological sites, which is also where more remains of the newer crops are found. There are fewer excavated rural sites, and this applies particularly in the north where military sites tend to predominate in the middle to late Roman period. The site at Healaugh provides another small piece in the overall picture. J.H. |
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| News Record: 181 Updated: 06-03-2024 15:26:47 | |