title: Combining functional weed ecology and crop stable isotope ratios to identify cultivation intensity: a comparison of cereal production regimes in Haute Provence, France and Asturias, Spain.
abstract: This investigation combines two independent methods of identifying crop growing conditions and husbandry practices-functional weed ecology and crop stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis-in order to assess their potential for inferring the intensity of past cereal production systems using archaeobotanical assemblages. Present-day organic cereal farming in Haute Provence, France features crop varieties adapted to low-nutrient soils managed through crop rotation, with little to no manuring. Weed quadrat survey of 60 crop field transects in this region revealed that floristic variation primarily reflects geographical differences. Functional ecological weed data clearly distinguish the Provence fields from those surveyed in a previous study of intensively managed spelt wheat in Asturias, north-western Spain: as expected, weed ecological data reflect higher soil fertility and disturbance in Asturias. Similarly, crop stable nitrogen isotope values distinguish between intensive manuring in Asturias and long-term cultivation with minimal manuring in Haute Provence. The new model of cereal cultivation intensity based on weed ecology and crop isotope values in Haute Provence and Asturias was tested through application to two other present-day regimes, successfully identifying a high-intensity regime in the Sighisoara region, Romania, and low-intensity production in Kastamonu, Turkey. Application of this new model to Neolithic archaeobotanical assemblages in central Europe suggests that early farming tended to be intensive, and likely incorporated manuring, but also exhibited considerable variation, providing a finer grained understanding of cultivation intensity than previously available.
authors.affiliation: School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PG UK.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bogaard
authors.affiliation: School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PG UK.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hodgson
authors.affiliation: School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PG UK.
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nitsch
authors.affiliation: Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield, Northgate House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 4ET UK.
authors.forename: Glynis
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PG UK.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Styring
authors.affiliation: School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PG UK.
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Diffey
authors.affiliation: School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PG UK.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pouncett
authors.affiliation: Abt. Vor- und Frühgeschichte, Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften, J.W. Goethe-Universität, Grüneburgplatz 1, 60323 Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Herbig
authors.affiliation: School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PG UK.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Charles
authors.affiliation: Orhangazi caddesi, Kumbaşı yolu no 109, Iznik, Bursa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Füsun
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ertuğ
authors.affiliation: Biyoloji Bölümü, Fen Fakültesi, Selçuk Üniversitesi, Selçuklu, 42075 Konya, Turkey.
authors.forename: Osman
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tugay
authors.affiliation: Institute for Balkan Studies, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Knez Mihailova 35/IV, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Dragana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Filipovic
authors.affiliation: School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PG UK.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fraser
keywords: Agricultural intensity; Archaeobotany; Neolithic; Stable isotopes; Weed ecology