| The link between agricultural food systems and complex society is investigated through a study of the macrobotanical remains from prehistoric sites in Thy, NW Denmark. Four Late Neolithic and three Early Bronze Age houses were sampled for archaeobotanical remains, which included naked barley, and emmer, bread/club and einkorn wheat. Many arable weeds, heath and wetland species were also present in the samples, which came from pits, floors and fill layers. Quantification methods included ubiquity, relative percentage and standardized density. An analysis applying the principles of weed ecology showed a large number of plants which prefer nitrogen rich soils and annual plants in both time periods. The analysis indicated high levels of soil fertility and yard agriculture, pointing to intensive agriculture and perhaps manuring. Many wetland and heath species were recovered from certain contexts, which may be the result of either dung or peat use as fuel sources.; Several paths of intensification became apparent. Agricultural strategies included diversification of crops through time, as well as specialization in bread/club wheat by elite households in the Early Bronze Age. Cattle husbandry played an important role in both time periods. Intensification seems to be driven by political and social factors, as there is little evidence for pressure on resources in the form of land degradation or large scale population growth.; By applying crop processing analysis to the remains, producer and consumer contexts were identified. Two methods were applied to the data. Method A used ratios of certain crop by-products to cereal grains, while Method B used characteristics of seeds relevant to either ethnographically or historically established crop processing sequences. In the Late Neolithic three house sites indicated production contexts, while one house that had many hearths indicated consumption, which suggests a feasting locus. In the Early Bronze, two sites indicated production contexts, while a third, larger house had both production and consumption contexts. This house may also give evidence for feasting. This house had the only evidence for bread/club wheat, a crop which may have required more labor to grow. A single find of asparagus was found in this house, which may also be a rare food.; It is argued that control of agricultural surplus was important to the formation of social inequalities, as those who controlled this surplus would be able to recruit labor, a limiting factor for the success of arable agriculture. Such labor was mobilized through work party feasts, perhaps with the use of alcoholic beverages such as beer or mead, or special foods. The identification of feasting contexts and the use of food and drink are exciting areas for future research on prehistoric food systems and society. |
