Plant Based Subsistence Strategy of the Medieval Ishmaelite (12th–13th c.) Population in the Carpathian Basin (NE-Hungary)

ABSTRACT

During the excavation carried out at the outskirts of Hajdúböszörmény (NE-Hungary) in 2011, the remains of a 12–13th century settlement were brought to light. Linguistic and historical research has previously presumed that one of the main centres of medieval Hungary’s Muslim (Ishmaelites) population is located in the northern-eastern part of the Great Hungarian Plain. At Hajdúböszörmény–Téglagyár ‘2’ archaeological site several household units were systematically sampled for archaeobotanical analysis. The recovered ceramics differ from the known ceramic production of the Árpád Age, whereas significant differences were detected in the zooarchaeological assemblage, too. The archaeobotanical record, representing 23 features, consists of 2679 items of charred macro-botanical remains that belong to 54 taxa. The record is predominated by the presence of cereals among which rye (Secale cereale L. subsp. cereale) and common barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) are the most frequent. Besides the dominance of cereals, pulses and vegetables, as well as gathered fruit remains were identified. By the comparison of results to other Árpád Age sites, we assume that the revealed ethno-archaeobotanical information identifies a population that used similar plant resources, but in a different way and strategy than the known Christian population of the Carpathian Basin.

KEYWORDS:

• Árpád Age
• plant macroremains
• economic plant diversity
• medieval Islamic population
• household archaeology

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Ferenc Gyulai is a professor of archaeobotany at Szent István University and head of the Department of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology (Gödöllő, Hungary). His research is focused on the study of plant macroremains (seeds and fruits) and food residues of the Carpathian Basin.

László Szolnoki is an archaeologist at Déri Museum (Debrecen, Hungary). His research is focused on the metal tools and weapons of the Migration Period and the Middle Ages.

Zoltán Rózsa is an archaeologist and the director of Nagy Gyula Területi Museum (Orosháza, Hungary). His research is focused on the settlement history of the 11–13th century Carpathian Basin.

Máté Merkl is an archaeological technician specialising in the study of plant macroremains.

Ákos Pető is a research fellow at Szent István University, Department of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology (Gödöllő, Hungary). He is an environmental scientist with a specialism in integrated archaeobotanical approaches with an emphasis on phytolith analysis and geoarchaeology. His research is focused on the activity area analysis and subsistence strategies of the archaeological cultures of the Carpathian Basin.

ORCID

Ákos Pető http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3811-1155

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; National Research, Development and Innovation Office [grant number PD_124607]; and by the ÚNKP-17-4 New National Excellence Program of the Ministry of Human Capacities.