Grains from ear to ear: the morphology of spelt and free-threshing wheat from Roman Mursa (Osijek), Croatia
Cereals were a significant part of the Roman diet, yet knowledge about their cultivation, distribution and consumption in certain regions is particularly lacking. In Europe, studies generally suggest that from the Iron Age to the Roman period there was a reduction in barley cultivation, an increase...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer
2019
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| _version_ | 1797050828467470336 |
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| author | Reed, K Sabljic, S Šoštarić, R Essert, S |
| author_facet | Reed, K Sabljic, S Šoštarić, R Essert, S |
| author_sort | Reed, K |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Cereals were a significant part of the Roman diet, yet knowledge about their cultivation, distribution and consumption in certain regions is particularly lacking. In Europe, studies generally suggest that from the Iron Age to the Roman period there was a reduction in barley cultivation, an increase in spelt over emmer, a preference for free-threshing wheat over glume wheats, as well as the increased cultivation of rye and oats. Up till now, there was little evidence on crop cultivation in Croatia, but the discovery of around 24,000 cereal grains from the oven of a 2nd-4th c. AD Roman villa in the modern town of Osijek provides important insights into diet and subsistence in the Roman province of Pannonia. Here, the dominance of free-threshing wheat, spelt and rye with only a relatively small amount of other cereals, chaff and weeds corresponds well with this pattern seen elsewhere in Europe. The relatively clean grain deposit suggests that this sample represents processed grain ready for final food preparation and consumption at the villa. The morphological variation and overlap seen between the carbonised spelt and free-threshing wheat grains, as well as the identification of ‘stunted’ cereal grains, is also discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T18:10:59Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:0303a14d-1e74-4a4e-8491-4ae8875521d4 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T18:10:59Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:0303a14d-1e74-4a4e-8491-4ae8875521d42022-03-26T08:43:52ZGrains from ear to ear: the morphology of spelt and free-threshing wheat from Roman Mursa (Osijek), CroatiaJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:0303a14d-1e74-4a4e-8491-4ae8875521d4EnglishSymplectic ElementsSpringer2019Reed, KSabljic, SŠoštarić, REssert, SCereals were a significant part of the Roman diet, yet knowledge about their cultivation, distribution and consumption in certain regions is particularly lacking. In Europe, studies generally suggest that from the Iron Age to the Roman period there was a reduction in barley cultivation, an increase in spelt over emmer, a preference for free-threshing wheat over glume wheats, as well as the increased cultivation of rye and oats. Up till now, there was little evidence on crop cultivation in Croatia, but the discovery of around 24,000 cereal grains from the oven of a 2nd-4th c. AD Roman villa in the modern town of Osijek provides important insights into diet and subsistence in the Roman province of Pannonia. Here, the dominance of free-threshing wheat, spelt and rye with only a relatively small amount of other cereals, chaff and weeds corresponds well with this pattern seen elsewhere in Europe. The relatively clean grain deposit suggests that this sample represents processed grain ready for final food preparation and consumption at the villa. The morphological variation and overlap seen between the carbonised spelt and free-threshing wheat grains, as well as the identification of ‘stunted’ cereal grains, is also discussed. |
| spellingShingle | Reed, K Sabljic, S Šoštarić, R Essert, S Grains from ear to ear: the morphology of spelt and free-threshing wheat from Roman Mursa (Osijek), Croatia |
| title | Grains from ear to ear: the morphology of spelt and free-threshing wheat from Roman Mursa (Osijek), Croatia |
| title_full | Grains from ear to ear: the morphology of spelt and free-threshing wheat from Roman Mursa (Osijek), Croatia |
| title_fullStr | Grains from ear to ear: the morphology of spelt and free-threshing wheat from Roman Mursa (Osijek), Croatia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Grains from ear to ear: the morphology of spelt and free-threshing wheat from Roman Mursa (Osijek), Croatia |
| title_short | Grains from ear to ear: the morphology of spelt and free-threshing wheat from Roman Mursa (Osijek), Croatia |
| title_sort | grains from ear to ear the morphology of spelt and free threshing wheat from roman mursa osijek croatia |
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