Session: #376

Session, made up of a combination of papers, max. 15 minutes each

Humans have contributed and still participate in the circulation of plant and animal products and species around the world. The consequences of these have sometimes been catastrophic in fragile environments such as in small islands, while in other cases they have contributed to more resilient economies and increased food security. The Mediterranean basin has witnessed processes of animal and plant dispersal as a result of human migrations and trade on multiple occasions during the Holocene.
There is a growing archaeobiological dataset that have the potential to yield a good testimony of these processes over time and their consequences. Yet we still have vague ideas of the rhythms of adoption and routes of dispersal of many crops and domestic animals, as well as commensal animals, insects or wild plants that were also transported without a clear consciousness of it. The application of digital image analysis and biomolecular analyses to archaeobiological remains is allowing important steps forward in the identification of changes in consumption patterns, use of new plant and animal products as well as tracing the arrival of new landraces or their local development.
In this session, contributions dealing with the following topics will be welcome:

- Trade, circulation and translocation of animals and plants and factors affecting these (e.g. climate)
- Introduction of commensal animals (e.g. black and brown rat, house mouse) and synanthropic plants (e.g. Agrostemma githago).
- Ecological and economic impact of plant and animal circulation

Archaeozoological and archaeobotanical approaches integrated in interdisciplinary investigations will be especially encouraged.

Animals, Plants, Migrations, Mediterranean, Bioarchaeology

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Lídia Colominas (Spain) ¹

Prof. Ferran Antolín (Switzerland) ²