Principal Christine Shaw
About 1990, Dr Peter Reynolds published an extensive paper on his first 10 years work on this topic. It is unfortunately in German, making it inaccessible to many readers. The original English version has been "lost" in the bowels of a computer and the Chairman of the Friends of Butser Ancient Farm translated the German original, so that an updated version could be prepared by Dr Reynolds and offered to an English language journal. Subsequently, Dr Reynolds had prepared it in a form to go into his new book, which was incomplete at the timeof his death. The following commentary has, as with the majority of the material on this website, been prepared by the Chairman, in discussion with Dr Reynolds.
The full English abstract of the German paper is presented at the end of this page but because the title and abstract do not necessarily fully disclose all the material covered, in what is a very wide-ranging paper, a few introductory points are now given.
The paper contains more than just some crucial experimental work on the generation of carbonised seed in fires, especially those fires based on the disposal of waste straw, which might arise from harvesting for the grain yield but, it is argued, more likely from the provision of thatching straw. There are known records of finds of carbonised seeds in settlement areas divorced from obvious activities, such as cooking, and for which no ready explanation has ever been advanced before this paper was published.
The paper first analyses what is known about ancient harvesting methodology and how various methods might relate to both grain recovery and to the impact on the availability of straw as a product and its suitability for a range of uses such as thatch, fodder and bedding. Then some experiments are reported to support the arguments.
It is clearly demonstrated that straw intended for thatch, in particular, when imported to the settlement site, contains significant quantities of seed grains. There is also found to be clear contamination with a range of weed seeds. The relationship of these weeds to those existing in the fields is discussed., as they may provide an important "marker" in following the transfer of crops through various processes from harvesting onwards. Here there is an inter-relationship with the work at Butser on Arable Weed Communities.
There are some important results and discussions given for how best to generate straw suitable for thatching when hand cutting the ripe cereal stands in various ways. There is an incidental explanation offered for some of the paired post-holes frequently excavated on settlement sites. This relates to the formation of straw bundles for thatching.
The paper finally takes up the key theme of what happens when disposing of waste straw, from the thatching process, by the use of fire. It is a principal hypothesis that this is the origin of much if not all of the previously unexplained carbonised seed "scattered" around settlement sites.
On the origin of carbonised seeds in prehistoric settlements - an alternative explanation.
Abstract.
In the analysis of samples of carbonised seeds from prehistoric sites, the regular presumption is that these are the products of cereal or food processing. This paper presents the results of an extended series of trials which explore an alternative source of this type of evidence. Given that the natural focus of excavation is upon settlements, seed assemblages are primarily recovered from features and layers within the zone of the domestic economy as opposed to the agricultural economy. Frequently the find location has no specific identified function which can explain satisfactorily the presence of carbonised seed as a result of cooking or processing error. An exception to this general observation are the carbonised seed (sic) which have been recovered from a pit interpreted as a storage pit. In this case the seed could well have been carbonised as the side effect of pit cleaning and preparation for further storage. However, the agricultural economy itself provides a potential interpretation of a source of carbonised grain with the usual admixture of other plant seed which is more persuasive both of the nature of seed assemblages and their carbonisation. This hypothesis is capable of no more proof than any other since it relies upon assumed activities and processes but it does have the advantage that such activities and processes must have taken place in one form or another for the economy to have existed at all. This hypothesis has been derived from the long term cropping trials at the Butser Ancient Farm since 1972. It suggests that a logical source of carbonised seed found within the settlement zone is the waste product of house thatching. Bonfires to simulate the disposal of waste straw with a known input of seed have been burned on a large number of occasions. The remains have been analysed for the survival of carbonised seed with quite remarkable results. The average survival is in excess of 60% with a very low standard deviation.
Reference: "On the Origin of Carbonised Seeds in Prehistoric Settlements - an Alternative Hypothesis" [in German] Dr Peter Reynolds Archaeo-Physica 13, 7000 Jahre bauerliche Landschaft: Entstehung, Erforschung, Erhaltung.
Created 01 August 2001 - Updated 23 June 2006