| Abstract [eng] |
Dispersal of domesticated plants is among the most widely studied archaeological topics in the world. However, these processes have been poorly studied in Lithuania, Eastern Baltic and Northeastern Europe. This dissertation is based on new archaeobotanical material from 13 settlements in Lithuania dating from the Bronze Age to Middle Ages. Moreover, previously excavated material currently stored in museums in Lithuania and Belarus were analysed. Research object of this study are charred and waterlogged macroremains of cultivated plants and their imprints in pottery. Radiocarbon (AMS 14C) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating methods were used to determine the chronology of investigated plants. This study provided new data on the history of barley, wheat, millet, rye, buckwheat and flax cultivation in Lithuania and the Eastern Baltic. Moreover, previously published data on early agriculture in Lithuania and the Eastern Baltic are critically evaluated. Domesticated plants investigated in this study are of distant geographical origin. Most of them were domesticated in the Middle East, others in East Asia. The origin of these plants in the territory of Lithuania was determined by the millennial processes of agricultural dispersal and food globalization. Therefore, archaeobotanical data from Lithuanian settlements is evaluated in the broader context of the Eastern Baltic. |
