After the fire: integrated archaeobotanical approach to an Iron Age context of North-western Iberia

An integrated archaeobotanical approach has been applied to study plant-based materials at the Iron Age site of Nabás which is located in the Southern margin of the Ría de Vigo (Galicia, NW of the Iberian Peninsula). The extraordinary preservation of carbonised plant remains in several contexts of this site has offered an unusual opportunity to focus our research on the study of perishable materials such as plants. The archaeobotanical approach has integrated charcoal, carpology and pollen analysis in tandem with a taphonomic assessment. The charcoal assemblage includes wooden manufactures and charcoal without signs of work – although probably related with the roof and timber of the round-house. This interpretation is based on the size and concentration of charcoal fragments besides the short taxonomic list, the intra-site spatial patterning of charcoal taxa and the recurrence of biological alterations such as xylophages’ galleries. Aggregated grains and chaff of foxtail millet (Setaria italica) have been found in several samples suggesting their storage – probably inside an organic container. Finally, pollen analysis offered clues about the provenance of soil deposited inside the house, under the floor, and allowed the identification of mixed oak forests with thermophilous taxa in the surroundings of this settlement attesting the presence of Juglans, Castanea and Olea.

Charcoal analysis. Carpology. Palynology. Wooden manufactures. Intra-site analysis. Iron Age.