Archaeobotanical materials of the Prague-type culture in Ukraine

Abstract

Archaeobotanical data relating to the Prague-type culture from territories ranging from the Dnieper valley to that of the Dniester are introduced. Four sites were investigated by the author (Velikaya Bugayevka, Kodyn I, Kodyn II, Luka-Kavetchinskaya); materials from the sites Rashkov III and Teterevka I analysed by G. A. Pashkevich were also used for the investigation. Materials from Velikaya Bugayevka are only of interest for evaluation of the world-view of medieval Slavs and they are not used for statistical analysis. For the latter materials have been used from four sites. The bases of vessels with imprints of millet are also not used for statistical analysis, because grains of millet did not find their way into pottery vessels by chance. Analysis of grain production is carried out after recalculation of data relating to indices of mass: in first place is barley; then there follow rye and naked wheat varieties; the least stable indices are those for emmer wheat; the index for millet is between 1/10 and 1/6; the indices for oats are stable at a low level. Cluster analysis showed that there is a fairly high level of similarity with between the sites (ca. 90 %). The presence of weeds can testify to the use of old-arable fields and the presence of plants with different cycles would point to the use of both spring and winter sewing.