The Diet in the Roman Period Through the Study of Sites with Waterlogged Assemblages: the Case Study of Guissona (Catalonia, Spain)

Abstract

The recovery of archaeobotanical assemblages preserved under anoxic conditions (in waterlogged environments) is a rare phenomenon in the Mediterranean, as opposed to central and northern Europe. One of the few sites in the western Mediterranean that offer such contexts is the site of Guissona (Catalonia, Spain), dated to the Roman period. This article presents the preliminary archaeobotanical findings from one of the wells excavated at this site. Other Roman sites with waterlogged preservation in the area are also presented to provide an adequate framework for the contextualisation of the results. The study of the assemblage indicates that fruits and nuts were part of the diet of the Roman population, even if they are not common archaeobotanical finds. The species that are detected in archaeobotanical assemblages are the result of several factors. Therefore, this paper concludes with an exploration of the reasons behind the relative rarity of certain taxa in Roman assemblages.