New evidence for the consumption of barley at Romano-British military and civilian sites, from the analysis of cereal bran fragments in faecal material
New evidence for the consumption of barley at Romano-British military and civilian sites, from the analysis of cereal bran fragments in faecal material
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DOI：
10.1007/s00334-010-0245-3
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发表时间：
2011-01-01
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
Huntley, Jacqui
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Britton, Kate;Huntley, Jacqui
尽管在英格兰北方哈德良长城沿着的古罗马军事遗址中有丰富的大麦记录，而且英国的气候也适合种植谷物，但关于罗马世界人类食用这种谷物的争论仍然存在。先前的实验和考古工作已经证明，粪便材料中的谷物麸皮碎片可以成功地分配给物种。在这里，植物片段的显微镜分析是用来调查相对丰富的小麦/黑麦（小麦/黑麦），大麦（大麦）和燕麦（燕麦）的粪便沉积物从两个罗马军事网站和当代平民定居点在卡莱尔。在所有沉积物中均鉴定出谷物麸皮，沿着的还有某些其他可食用植物碎片，如芫荽（Coriandrum sativum）和葱属（Allium sp.）。在军事遗址的沉积物中发现大麦似乎证实了大麦的消费，碎片的频率和大小暗示着可能偶尔在汤和炖菜中的烹饪用途。在当代民用场所使用频率的增加表明在非军事定居点使用烹饪的更为广泛。这种方法的实际和分析的局限性进行了讨论。
Despite the abundance of barley in the archaeobotanical record at Roman military sites along Hadrian's Wall in northern England, and the suitability of the British climate for growing the grain, contention still remains concerning the human consumption of this cereal in the Roman world. Previous experimental and archaeological work has demonstrated that cereal bran fragments in faecal material can be successfully assigned to species. Here, microscopic analysis of plant fragments is utilised to investigate the relative abundance of Triticum/Secale (wheat/rye), Hordeum (barley) and Avena (oats) from faecal deposits from two Roman military sites and a contemporary civilian settlement in Carlisle. Cereal bran was identified in all deposits, along with certain other edible plant fragments such as Coriandrum sativum (coriander) and Allium sp. (onion genus). The presence of barley in deposits from military sites appears to confirm its consumption, with the frequency and size of fragments hinting at likely occasional culinary use in soups and stews. Increased frequency at the contemporary civilian site indicates more widespread culinary use in non-military settlements. The practical and analytical limitations of this method are discussed.