Theme:
2. Archaeological Sciences, Humanities and the Digital era: Bridging the Gaps
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
The Archaeobotany of Cities and Urban Landscapes
Content:
Urban centres are focal points of multicultural, interactions and connections. They are dynamic sites, oftentimes the driving forces of changes of broader socio-economic settings. Their archaeological context is usually altered by cultural processes associated with their development, which poses a series of difficulties in disentangling the taphonomic processes of their archaeological assemblages. Archaeobotanists are increasingly aware of the potential of urban contexts, as large concentrations of organic material are being recovered, representing important archives for different types of environmental and cultural data. Urban archaeobotany focuses on the analysis plant materials from these environments and includes the examination of both macro-remains (seeds, wood, and other visible parts), and micro-remains (pollen, phytoliths and starch). The archaeobotany of urban centres and landscapes can shed light on a multitude of aspects, from the dietary habits of their inhabitants to trade, exchange, urbanisation, infrastructure development and environmental and sustainability issues.
This session offers the opportunity to discuss all aspects of scientific research related to the archaeobotany of urban centres, stimulating further development in this field. Detailed analyses of archaeobotanical remains and palaeoenvironmental data of urban centres have the potential to significantly improve our understanding of their origins, socio-economic, political and religious functions, but also of their relationship with other types of settlements and their agency in the creation of connections between all these different types of sites, between individuals and societies.
Topics that will be considered, include (but are not limited to):
• how and why the urban environment and/or local ecosystems have changed over time
• how and why people in urban settings managed and utilized plant resources for food and fodder
• insights into trade networks and the exchange of plant products within or between urban centres and other types of sites
• urban identities through the study of food plant remains
Keywords:
archaeobotany, urban centres, cultural identities, food, trade, environmental change
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Federica Riso (Spain) 1
Co-organisers:
Alexandra Livarda (Spain) 1
Aldona Mueller-Bieniek (Poland) 2
Núria Rovira (France) 3
Patricia Vandorpe (Spain) 1
Affiliations:
1. Istitut Català de Arqueologia Classica, Tarragona
2. University of Warsaw
3. Université Paul Valéry - Montpellier
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