Finds of Lithospermum Nuts at Archaeological Sites in Ukraine

Keywords: paleoethnobotany, Lithospermum officinale L. and Buglossoides arvensis (L.) I. M. Johnston [syn. Lithospermum arvense L.] nuts, Trypillia culture, Ukraine

Abstract

Lithospermum officinale L. and Buglossoides arvensis (L.) I.M. Johnston [syn. Lithospermum arvense L.] nuts were found among the fossil grains and seeds in the materials of various archaeological cultures of the territory of Ukraine. These finds have attracted the researchers’ attention for their large number, which sometimes reaches tens of thousands. Why were our ancestors interested in these small, unattractive plants? They have neither brightly fragrant flowers, nor edible fruits.

The oldest and largest find, more than 40,000 nuts of Lithospermum officinale L., was found in two pots from Trypillia settlement Ozhevo-Ostriv (the last phase of ВІ — В / I stages, Cucuteni A4) dated by the last third of the 5th millennium BC. For what purpose was such a number of nuts collected? In the article there is data on the finds of gromwell nuts in Europe and the reasons for their gathering. There are several of them: the usage of nuts for future crops and preparation of plants roots with red coloring; making beads from nuts; the usage of nuts in herbal medicine as diuretics, anesthetics and as an aphrodisiac. For what purpose was a large number of nuts collected by the residents of Trypillia settlement Ozhevo-Ostriv? The ancient population may have used nuts as a folk remedy and as a dye. However, the laying of vessels with nuts under the platform No. 4 at the Ozhevo-Ostriv settlement did not imply such household usage. Probably, these nuts were collected and placed in vessels for ritual purposes and they should be considered as ritual items.

The finds in materials from other archaeological cultures are less numerous. It is possible that gromwell nuts were used as herbal medicine or as a dye.

The gromwell nuts are also of interest to modern researchers. Thanks to recent studies by K. Pustovoytov and S. Riehl, the possibility of using biogenic carbonate from the shells of nuts for radiocarbon dating has been established. Thus, the biogenic carbonate of the nut shell is a new source of chronological information. The same researchers established the relationship between the isotopic composition of oxygen from the biogenic carbonate of nuts and climatic conditions.

References

Visiulina, O. D. (ed.). 1970. Buriany Ukrainy. Vyznachnyk-dovidnyk. Kyiv: Naukova dumka.
Havrylov, O. V. 1999. Antique site Novopokrovka-I in the South-Eastern Crimea. Arheologia, 1, p. 76-93.
Gavrilov, A. V., Pashkevich, G. A. 2002. Nekotoryie voprosy organizatsii zemledeliia i torgovli v selskoi okruge Feodosii v IV - nachale III vv. do n. e. Drevnosti Bospora, 6, p. 56-77.
Gorbenko, K. V. 2008. Predvaritelnyie itogi arkheologicheskikh issledovanii ukreplennogo poseleniia pozdnei bronzy ‛Dikii Sad’. In: Derevianko, A. P., Makarov, N. A. (eds.). Trudy II (XVIII) Vserossiiskogo arkheologicheskogo sieezda v Suzdale. T. І. Moskva: IA RAN, p. 384-387.
Horbenko, K. V., Pashkevych, H. O. 2010. Palaeobotanic Researches on the Territory of the Hillfort Dykyi Sad. Eminak, 1-4 (5), p. 5-19.
Korvin-Piotrovskyi, O. H., Ovchynnykov, E. V., Chernovol, D. K., Chabaniuk, V. V. 2019. Kompleks ‛simia honcharia’ na trypilskomu poselenni-hihanti Talianky. In: Chabai, V. P. (ed.). I Vseukrainskyi arkheolohichnyi zizd. Materialy roboty. Kyiv: IA NAN Ukrainy, 2019, p. 243-262.
Pashkevych, G. O., Kostylov, O. M. 1992. Syntaksonomichnyi analiz paleobotanichnykh danykh na prykladi materialiv epokhy bronzy. Oikumena. Ukrainskyi ekolohichnyi visnyk, 3, p. 72-77.
Pashkevich, G. A. 2000. Agriculture in the Steppe and Forest-Steppe Zones of Eastern Europe in the Neolithic and Bronze Age (Palaeo-Ethnic and Botanic Evidence). Stratum plus, 2, p. 404-418.
Pashkevich, G. A. 2002. K probleme izucheniia zemledeliia Severnogo Prichernomoria v antichnuiu epokhu. In: Vakhtina, M. Yu. i dr. (eds.). Bosporskii fenomen. Pogrebalnye pamiatniki i sviatilishcha. Ch. 2. Sankt-Peterburg: Izdatelstvo Gosudarstvennogo Ermitazha, p. 302-311.
Pashkevich, G. A. 2003-2004. The Palaeobotanic Research of Olbia and its Neighborhood. Stratum plus, 3, p. 13-76.
Pashkevych, G. O. 2004. Pro sklad roslyn, vyroshchuvanykh na pochatku hretskoi kolonizatsii Pivnichnoho Prychornomor’ia. In: Kryzhytskyi, S. D. (ed.). Borysthenica: Materialy mezhdunarodnoi nauchnoi konferentsii k 100-letiiu nachala issledovanii ostrova Berezan E. R. fon Shternom. Nikolaev: [b i.], p. 131-138.
Pashkevych, G. O., Videiko, M. Yu. 2006. Rilnytstvo plemen trypilskoi kultury. Kyiv: [b. v.].
Pashkevych, G., Chernovol, D. 2015. Novi paleobotanichni materialy z trypilskykh pamiatok. In: Diachenko, O. ta in. (eds.). Kulturnyi kompleks Kukuten-Trypillia ta yoho susidy. Lviv: Astroliabiia, p. 97-110.
Pashkevich, G. A. 2016. Arkheobotanicheskie issledovaniia Bospora. Bosporskie issledovaniia, XXXII, p. 205-303.
Pashkevych, G. 2018. Paleoetnobotanichni doslidzhennia Pivnichnoho Prychornomoria. In: Havryliuk, N. O. ta in. (eds.). Forum Olbicum II: pamiati V. V. Krapivinoi (do 150-richchia doslidzhennia Olvii): Materialy mizhnarodnoi arkheolohichnoi konferentsii, 4-6 travnia 2018 r. Mykolaiv: Lukomorie, p. 87-89.
Prokudin, Iu. N. (ed.). 1999. Opredelitel vysshikh rastenii Ukrainy. 2-e izd. Kyiv: Izd-vo Fitosotsiotsentr.
Rubtsov, N. I. (ed.). 1972. Opredelitel vysshikh rastenii Kryma. Leningrad: Nauka.
Takhtadzhian, A. L. (ed.).1981. Zhizn rastenii. T. 5 (2). Moskva: Prosveshchenie.
Fliaksberher, K. 1937. Likarski roslyny v starovynnykh pokhovanniakh. Naukovi zapysky Instytutu istorii materialnoi kultury, 2, p. 127-128.
Chernovol, D. K., Ryzhov, S. M. 2006. Doslidzhennia trypilskoho poselennia bilia s. Pishchana. In: Havryliuk, N. O. (ed.). Arkheolohichni doslidzhennia v Ukraini 2004-2005 rr. Kyiv; Zaporizhzhia: Dyke pole, p. 373-376.
Chopyk, V. I. (ed.). 1977. Vyznachnyk roslyn Ukrainskykh Karpat. Kyiv: Naukova dumka.
Sharafutdinova, I. N., Balushkin, A. M. 1997. Poselenie Vinogradnyi Sad i problemy sabatinovskoi kultury. In: Kliushentsev, V. N. (ed.). Sabatinovskaia i srubnaia kultury: problemy vzaimosviazei Vostoka i Zapada v epokhu pozdnei bronzy. Kyiv; Nikolaev; Iuzhnoukrainsk: [b. i.], p. 35-36.
Baczyńska, B., Lityńska-Zajac, M. 2005. Application of Lithospermum Officinale L. in Early Bronze Age Medicine. Vegetation History Archaeobotany, 14(1), p. 77-80.
Cârciumâru, M. 1985. Le collier de semences d’ulmeni (culture de Gumelniţa). Dacia, 29 (1-2), p. 125-127.
Chernovol, D. 2014. The Tripolye BI Dwellings in the Middle Dniester Region. In: Dumitroaia, G., Preoteasa, C., Nicola, C.-D. (eds.). Cucuteni Culture within the European Neo-Eneolithic Context: International Colloquium Cucuteni - 130. Piatra-Neamt: Constantin Matasa, p. 108-109.
Gaul, J. H. 1948. The Neolithic Period in Bulgaria. American School of Prehistoric Research, 16. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University.
Medović, A. 2013. Sex, drugs & Petrovaradin Rock: Was Field Gromwell (Lithospermum arvense L.) More Than Just an Early Bronze Age Make-up? Rad Museja Vojvodine, Archeobotanice, 55, p. 41-46.
Pashkevich, G. 2001. Archaeobotanical Studies on the Northern Coast of the Black Sea. Eurasia antiqua, 7, p. 511-567.
Pashkevich, G. 2003. Palaeoethnobotanical Evidence of Agriculture in the Steppe and the Forest-steppe of East Europe in the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age. In: Levine, M., Renfrew, C., Boyle, K. (eds.). Prehistoric Steppe Adaptation and the Horse. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, p. 287-297.
Pustovoytov, K., Riehl, S. 2006. Suitability of Biogenic Carbonate of Lithospermum Fruits for 14C Dating. Quaternary Research, 65, p. 508-518.
Pustovoytov, K., Riehl,S, Hilgerc, H., Schumacher, E. 2010. Oxygen Isotopic Composition of Fruit Carbonate in Lithospermeae and its Potential for Paleoclimate Research in the Mediterranean. Global and Planetary Change, 71, p. 258-268.
Renfrew, J. 1973. Palaoethnobotany. The Prechistoric Food Plants of the Near East and Europe. Londres: Methuen & Co LTD.
Van Zeist, W., Bakker-Heeres, J. A. H. 1982. Archaeobotanical Studies in the Levant. 1.Neolitic Sites in the Damascus Basin: Aswad, Ghoraife, Ramad. Palaeohistoria, 24, p. 166-256.

Abstract views: 264
PDF Downloads: 161
Published
2021-09-23
Section
Articles