Abstract Archaeological excavations of the ancient city of Sumhuram (2nd century BC- 5th century AD), a port along the frankincense trade route in Dhofar, Southern Oman, offered the chance to gain new insights into the diet of the inhabitants. In spite of the mainly sandy nature of the sediments in the site, which does not favour good preservation of plant materials, pollen analyses and sporadic findings of starch grains, seeds and fruits allowed evidence of food plants to be gathered. Pollen and starch grains of cereals at Sumhuram attested to the consumption of major crops, like wheat and barley, as well as minor crops, such as the millets. Cereal pollen from a pit in the city helped strengthen the archaeological interpretation of this structure as foodstuff storage. Both date palm pollen and stones recovered in two rooms testified to the use of this plant, largely diffused in Arabia. Even though the provenance of these foodstuffs remains dubious - they could have been locally cultivated/gathered or imported from other territories - the outcome of our Modern Analogues study in wadi estuaries enabled us to attribute varying origins to pollen sources in the past record.

中文翻译：

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古代阿拉伯南部花粉记录中的食用植物：来自苏姆胡拉姆（阿曼南部）的证据

摘要 苏胡拉姆古城（公元前 2 世纪至公元 5 世纪）的考古发掘是阿曼南部佐法尔乳香贸易路线沿线的一个港口，为深入了解居民饮食提供了机会。尽管该地点的沉积物主要为沙质，不利于植物材料的良好保存，但花粉分析和淀粉粒、种子和果实的零星发现使得收集到食用植物的证据。Sumhuram 谷类的花粉和淀粉粒证明了主要作物（如小麦和大麦）以及次要作物（如小米）的消费。来自城市一个坑的谷物花粉有助于加强对这种结构作为食品储存的考古解释。在两个房间中回收的椰枣花粉和石头都证明了这种植物的使用，这种植物主要在阿拉伯传播。尽管这些食品的来源仍然可疑——它们可能是当地种植/采集的或从其他地区进口的——我们在干河河口进行的现代类似物研究的结果使我们能够将不同的来源归因于过去记录中的花粉来源。