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Identification of archaeobotanical Pistacia L. fruit remains: implications for our knowledge on past distribution and use in prehistoric Cyprus

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Abstract

Pistacia spp. remains are common finds among archaeobotanical assemblages in prehistoric sites in Southwest Asia, both in the form of endocarps and charcoal remains. However, in the absence of a systematic study of the fruit morphology, the archaeobotanical remains of Pistacia cannot be identified to the species level and this deprives us of important information on their past geographical distribution and uses. This paper presents a comprehensive study of morphological and traditional morphometric characteristics of modern endocarps of six Pistacia species indigenous to Southwest Asia: P. atlantica Desf., P. eurycarpa Yalt., P. khinjuk Stocks, P. lentiscus L., P. terebinthus L. and P. vera L. The observation of recurring morphological features that were shown to remain stable during experimental carbonisation allowed us to set up an identification key whose efficiency was tested through a blind test. The application of established identification criteria to archaeobotanical material from the Late Aceramic Neolithic site of Khirokitia-Vounoi in Cyprus, enables an in-depth discussion on the biogeography and use of Pistacia species in prehistoric Cyprus. Finally, the paper identifies directions for future research on a major plant resource of the past.

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Acknowledgements

The present paper is published within the framework of Maria Rousou’s PhD research, supported by an Onassis Foundation scholarship (ID: F ZO 066-1/2018-2019) and by the 7th Scholarship Programme of the Sylvia Ioannou Foundation; MR also would like to thank the Department Homme et Environnement (MNHN, France) for funding her Master internship. We would like to acknowledge the curators of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris (P), France and Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh (E), UK Herbarium for the permission to observe, study and sample botanic material; Porter Lowry (Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, UMR 7205-CNRS, MNHN) and Lesley Scott (Assistant Herbarium Curator, RBGE) for advice and facilitating the study of herbarium specimens at the MNHN Herbarium and RBGE Herbarium respectively; Myriam Gaudeul (Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, UMR 7205-CNRS, MNHN) and Heleen Plaisier (Assistant Herbarium Curator, RBGE) for the sampling of botanical specimens; Alain Le Brun (CNRS, Director of Khirokitia French Mission) and Odile Daune-Le Brun (CNRS, Co-director of Khirokitia French Mission) for giving access to the archaeobotanical material; George Willcox (Laboratoire Archéorient-MOM) for providing reference material collected in Tajikistan; Azadeh Mohaseb (UMR 7209-CNRS, MNHN) and Loïc Ponger (UMR 7196-CNRS, MNHN) for advice and support for the statistical analysis; Marie-Pierre Ruas (Director of the UMR 7209-CNRS, MNHN) for facilitating the study of the material and Michel Lemoine (UMR 7209-CNRS, MNHN) for technical support at the Plateau Archéobotanique of UMR 7209 and help with the carbonisation of modern endocarps; Cécile Callou (UMR 7209-CNRS, MNHN) for the use of equipment at the Imaging Station of the Zoology-Comparative Anatomy (Direction des Collections); Didier Geffard-Kuriyama and Jean-François Déjouannet (Atélier Iconographie Scientifique-UMS 2700-CNRS-MNHN) for their help, advice and equipment for the scientific drawings; Saskia Ryan (UMR 7209-CNRS, MNHN) and Rémy Auray for helping with the preparation of the blind test and useful comments. We also thank Amaia Arranz (University of Copenhagen, UMR7209-CNRS, MNHN); Vladimir Dabrowski (UMR 7209-CNRS, MNHN) and PhD candidates Sammy Ben Makhad (UMR7209-CNRS, MNHN), Lou Godefroy (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, UMR 7209-CNRS, MNHN) and Juliette Milon (UMR 7209-CNRS, MNHN) for participating in the blind test. We thank George and Elizabeth Willcox for their helpful comments and language revision of the manuscript. Finally, we acknowledge the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR 7209, MNHN-CNRS: Archaeobotany, Archaeozoology: Societies, Practices and Environments (AASPE), 55 rue Buffon, CP 56, 75005, Paris, France

    Maria Rousou & Margareta Tengberg

  2. Department of History and Archaeology, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Maria Rousou

  3. Muséum départemental du Var, Jardin départemental du Las, 83200, Toulon, France

    Andréa Parés

  4. The Cyprus Institute, Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Center (STARC), 20 Konstantinou Kavafi Street, 2121, Aglantzia, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Carolyne Douché

  5. Koç University’s Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (ANAMED), Tomtom Mahallesi İstiklar Caddesi No: 181, 34433, Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey

    Müge Ergun

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  1. Maria Rousou
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  2. Andréa Parés
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  3. Carolyne Douché
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  4. Müge Ergun
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  5. Margareta Tengberg
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Correspondence to Maria Rousou.

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Communicated by S. M. Valamoti.

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Rousou, M., Parés, A., Douché, C. et al. Identification of archaeobotanical Pistacia L. fruit remains: implications for our knowledge on past distribution and use in prehistoric Cyprus. Veget Hist Archaeobot 30, 623–639 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-020-00812-z

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