CSIC researchers participated in an international study that analyzed three sickle stems found in La Marmotta (Italy). One of the best preserved early Neolithic settlements in Europe. at work, posted Scientific Report-Naturethey were detected several plant species that may have psychoactive effect and therapeutic and narcotic use. Data from the analysis of these three tools allowed us to reconstruct the way of life more than 7,500 years ago.
“We have developed a global and interdisciplinary analysis of the three best-preserved sickles, not only from La Marmotta but also from archeology in general. The study focused on the plant species selected for crafting the handles, the compound used to produce the adhesive for joining the flint teeth, the shape of those teeth and We determined the use of these sickles,” he explains. Juan F. Gibaja, CSIC researcher at the Spanish School of History and Archeology in Rome.
Information from pollen and phytoliths (plant biomineralization) is unique in archeology. The researchers were able to analyze a variety of instruments reflecting work carried out in a grain field more than 7,500 years old. “Archaeologists excavate villages, workshops, tombs and, if any, buildings that have a political or cultic function. Again, they can hardly describe what ancient crops looked like. Therefore, the information contained in these sickles was very important and innovative.”says Gibaja.
Neolithic life from three sickles
The researchers were able to identify the materials of the three handles, as well as the glue used. They also determined that the teeth of the sickles were made with varieties of flint obtained from the Apennines and Gargano mines, several hundred kilometers from the site of the settlement.
The study also looked at the marks left on the stems, which confirms that sickles were used specifically for cutting household grains, harvesting barley and wheat, and removing weeds from crop fields, according to microscopic analysis.
Among the pollen grains found, the researchers were surprised to find plants of this genus. oenathe. “These are aquatic species that are very common in the lake environment of the inhabited Bracciano. These are the species, They can cause poisoning when eaten fresh and in small quantities.”, explains Niccolò Mazzucco, a researcher at the Università de Pisa. While the researchers caution that this pollen may have arrived after use of sickles, they do not rule out the possibility that sickles were used. These tools will also be used to collect herbs for therapeutic or narcotic use.
“La Marmotta is Europe’s oldest region with traces of indigenous opium.so it’s not strange that species with psychoactive effects exist,” adds Mario Mineo, Researcher at the Museo della Civiltà in Rome.
The work was made possible thanks to an agreement signed between the CSIC and the Museo della Civiltà in Rome.
Reference research: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-18597-8
……
Environment department contact address:[email protected]