Macchia, acorns and crops: daily life and diet in Corsica. Recent archaeobotanical data from Neolithic to Iron Age (5700-200 BCE)

Description

Corsica was occasionally inhabited during the 9th-7th millennia BC, but the human presence only became permanent during the Early Neolithic, with the arrival of the first farming populations (5700 BCE). These communities were obliged to interact with an insular ecosystem differing from those of the mainland and characterized by a high rate of endemism. The island presents a great diversity of landscapes, due to its geology and particular relief; this provides a great variety of resources but may also impose constraints on farming practices. Even though pollen records document the Holocene evolution of the vegetation, the exploitation of vegetal resources by pre- and protohistoric agro-pastoral communities was poorly documented until recently. Archaeobotanical studies in Corsica remained largely sporadic and unpublished for a long time; however, the recent dynamic in archaeological fieldwork led to the multiplication of anthracological and carpological studies. Beside a synthesis of available data, we propose a focus on four recently studied sites, distributed throughout the island, and dated between the Early Neolithic and the Iron Age (5700-200 BCE). These studies show that human communities frequented diverse biotopes and point to strategies in plant food management based on a range of resources, including cereals, pulses and wild fruits, especially oak acorns. The current renewal of data highlights a balance between forest and crop resources and leads us to question the link between the changes in plant resources management and social mutations or technological improvements. Our knowledge about the evolution of subsistence systems with intensified Mediterranean cultural influences during Bronze and Iron Ages, and more specifically new agrarian practices imported over a long period, needs to be improved. In addition, the impact of human activities on the natural vegetation and the setting, the appearance and development of the Corsican macchia needs to be better assessed understood.

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