Archaeobotanical research on prehistoric sites

A lot of archaeobotanical work has been undertaken in sites dated to the prehistoric period.

Starting from the earliest finds, Kotzamani and Livarda (Reference Kotzamani and Livarda2018) investigate the origins of agriculture in Greece through archaeobotanical remains offering insights into the socio-economic transformations of the Neolithic. The study reviews the Early Neolithic archaeobotanical record against its Mesolithic background, introducing new data from Theopetra (ID 1980), Revenia (ID 20693), and Paliambela (ID 19841), and reassessing all known sites to set new directions for future research (Map 6.1).

Map 6.1.

Sites mentioned in the text. 1. Theopetra; 2. Revenia; 3. Paliambela; 4. Dikili Tash; 5. Archondiko; 6. Argissa; 7. Palaikastro; 8. P.O.T.A. Romanou; 9. Agios Vasileios; 10. Kynos; 11. Mitrou; 12. Toumba Thessaloniki; 13. Iklaina; 14. Gla; 15. Eleon; 16. Midea; 17. Aigeira; 18. Tsoungiza; 19. Plasi; 20. Tiryns; 21. Kolona; 22. Kouphovouno; 23. Alepotrypa; 24. Therasia; 25. Kydonia; 26. Zominthos; 27. Koumasa; 28. Knossos; 29. Kophinas-Mezzolati; 30. Petras; 31. Ayia Sotira; 32. Kalapodi; 33. Mochlos; 34. Vathy; 35. Karabournaki; 36. Polichni; 37. Sikyon; 38. Methone; 39. Karphi; 40. Azorias; 41. Eretria; 42. Komboloi; 43. Duvari; 44. Tria Platania; 45. Sanctuary of Poseidon at Poros; 46. Mt Lykaion; 47. Lefkandi; 48. Olynthos; 49. Kea; 50. Halai; 51. Makriyalos; 52. Dispilio; 53. Franchthi; 54. Avgi; 55. Lyktos; 56. Dhaskalio; 57. Koropi.

Research has also focused on alcohol production. Houses that burned down at the Neolithic site of Dikili Tash in northern Greece preserved charred wild grapes, including a pile of pips and skins (ID 5434). This suggests the inhabitants were extracting juice, possibly to make wine, pushing back the earliest evidence for winemaking in the Aegean to the late fifth millennium BC (Valamoti Reference Valamoti2015; Valamoti et al. Reference Valamoti, Darcque, Koukouli-Chrysanthaki, Malamidou, Tsirtsoni, Diler, Senol and Aydinoğlu2015; Garnier and Valamoti Reference Garnier and Valamoti2016). Another study revisits an old question – ‘beer or wine?’ – as regards the potential alcoholic drinks consumed by prehistoric societies in southeastern Europe. It presents new archaeobotanical evidence from the Bronze Age sites of Archondiko (ID 6605) and Argissa in Greece, including sprouted cereal grains, which strongly suggest beer production. This finding points to a wider range of alcoholic beverage options available in Bronze Age Greece than previously thought, highlighting the potential for different cultural preferences and identities reflected in the choice of drink (Valamoti Reference Valamoti2018; for a review of the evidence in the Aegean and Europe, see Valamoti and Stika Reference Valamoti, Stika, Stockhammer and Fries-Knoblach2019). Studies from Palaikastro in east Crete reveal evidence of viticulture as early as the Early Minoan period (ID 5569; Livarda et al. Reference Livarda, Orengo, Cañellas-Boltà, Riera-Mora, Picornell-Gelabert, Tzevelekidi, Veropoulidou, Marlasca Martín and Krahtopoulou2021), while new evidence for Bronze Age viticulture and winemaking in the Peloponnese, particularly from sites like P.O.T.A. Romanou, is significantly enhancing our comprehension of the grapevine’s pivotal role in ancient economies (ID 6952; Valamoti et al. Reference Valamoti, Pagnoux, Ntinou, Bouby, Bonhomme and Terral2020a).

Focusing on fruit trees, C. Pagnoux’s PhD thesis (Reference Pagnoux2016) at Sorbonne University introduced geometric morphometry to archaeobotany in Greece, in collaboration with a team of researchers from the University of Montpellier. Her work investigated the history of arboriculture in Greece from the Neolithic to the Roman periods using archaeobotanical data from 56 sites, epigraphic documents, and ancient texts. While grapevine, olive, and fig cultivation predominated throughout this time, the study shows that the importance of wild fruits declined after the Bronze Age as new domesticated varieties were introduced. Specialized fruit tree plantations emerged by the Late Bronze Age (at the latest), and extensive vineyards appeared in the Classical period. The Roman era was characterized by a push for maximum profit, though less-selected domesticates and wild fruits remained in use.

Research for the Bronze Age has greatly advanced through Karathanou’s (Reference Karathanou2024) PhD thesis at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, entitled Η ανθρώπινη δραστηριότητα στην ηπϵιρωτική Eλλάδα κατά την Ύστϵρη Eποχή του Χαλκού μέσα από τα αρχαιοβοτανικά δϵδομένα (Human Activity in Mainland Greece During the Late Bronze Age Through Archaeobotanical Data). This examines human–plant relationships during the Late Bronze Age (LBA) in mainland Greece, focusing on the palatial site of Agios Vasileios in Laconia, the Mycenaean sites of Kynos (ID 1015) and Mitrou (ID 12880) in Phthiotis, and Toumba Thessaloniki in central Macedonia (ID 828). The research highlighted the dominance of glume wheats in northern and central Greece, with the discovery of Triticum timopheevii at Kynos. Barley was a consistent crop across all sites, while the cultivation of millet was restricted to Toumba. The data, supported by isotopic analysis (see below), suggest the use of intensive agricultural practices such as manuring and irrigation. The study of dung further indicates that animals were fed with cereals, processing by-products, and potentially winemaking refuse. A second PhD thesis on Mycenaean Greece is currently being completed at the Cyprus Institute, Nicosia (Gkinoudis Reference Gkinoudisin preparation), which integrates archaeobotanical and isotopic data from sites such as Iklaina (ID 18471), Gla (ID 19592), Eleon (ID 20652), Midea (ID 1448), and Aigeira (ID 19640).

Continuing with the Bronze Age, several studies have focused on the Peloponnese and central Greece, creating a robust and growing dataset for the period. Sites include Tsoungiza, which represents the most promising dataset to date (Allen and Forste Reference Allen, Forste, Wright and Dabney2020), while other sites are Plasi (ID 5115; Tsirtsi, Gkinoudis and Margaritis Reference Tsirtsi, Gkinoudis and Margaritisforthcoming), Iklaina (Gkinoudis Reference Gkinoudis2023), Tiryns (ID 5591; Vetters et al. Reference Vetters, Brysbaert, Ntinou, Tsartsidou and Margaritis2016), and Kolona, introducing evidence from the island of Aegina (Berger and Karathanou Reference Berger and Karathanou2020; for a review of textual and Bronze Age archaeobotanical data, see Halstead, Bogaard and Jones Reference Halstead, Bogaard, Jones, Valamoti, Dimoula and Ntinou2022). The Kouphovouno (ID 1890; on isotopes see below) and Alepotrypa publications add to the scarce evidence of the Neolithic period of the region (Margaritis Reference Margaritis, Parkinson, Galaty, Karakanas and Papathanasiou2018). From the Cyclades comes a valuable addition to the very limited data with the work on Therasia (Gkatzogia Reference Gkatzogia2025a).

The evidence from Crete has seen a considerable rise presented in a recent review by Henkel and Margaritis (Reference Henkel and Margaritis2024), which synthesized all available data and also added new evidence from the sites of Aposelemi, Chalepa, Mesorachi, Mesorachi Akri, Sopata, Chryssi, Chalasmenos, Juktas, and Alonaki. Notable examples from Crete include Kydonia, representing one of the very few sites of west Crete (Sarpaki Reference Sarpaki, Hallager and Hallager2016), Zominthos (ID 270; Livarda and Kotzamani Reference Livarda and Kotzamani2020), and Koumasa (ID 8567; Tsirtsi, Gkinoudis and Margaritis Reference Tsirtsi, Gkinoudis and Margaritisforthcoming), exploring the mountain areas of Crete, as well as the seminal interdisciplinary work at Palaikastro, where there is an integration of bioarchaeological, palaeoenvironmental, and landscape data. On top of the evidence of viticulture, this site has provided evidence for large-scale olive tree management dating back to the Final Neolithic. This research suggests a close entanglement of these cultivations with ovicaprine herding and grazing practices in the region (Livarda et al. Reference Livarda, Orengo, Cañellas-Boltà, Riera-Mora, Picornell-Gelabert, Tzevelekidi, Veropoulidou, Marlasca Martín and Krahtopoulou2021).

New themes have also been introduced and enriched over the last decade: the ritual use of plants in various contexts such as funerary contexts, sanctuaries, shrines, and domestic ritual contexts dated from the Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age, across Greece. Such studies include the sites of Alepotrypa (Margaritis Reference Margaritis, Parkinson, Galaty, Karakanas and Papathanasiou2018), Knossos, Kophinas-Mezzolati, Petras (Margaritis Reference Margaritis and Tsipopoulou2017a; Henkel and Margaritis Reference Henkel and Margaritis2022; Reference Henkel, Margaritis, Hinks and Wright2025), Eleon (Gkinoudis et al. Reference Gkinoudis, Van Damme, Burke, Burns and Margaritisin press), Ayia Sotira (Kotzamani and Livarda Reference Kotzamani, Livarda, Smith, Dabney, Pappi, Triantaphyllou and Wright2017), Kalapodi (ID 18575; Douché, Niemeier and Margaritis Reference Douché, Niemeier and Margaritisaccepted) (Fig. 6.1), and Mochlos (ID 18404; Margaritis, Tsirtsi and Soles Reference Margaritis, Tsirtsi and Solesin press, for rituals within a settlement). The evidence from Vathy (ID 19594; Margaritis Reference Margaritis and Vlachopoulos2023) not only provides information on plant remains accompanying child burials but begins the process of archaeobotanical research in the Dodecanese, one of the most underrepresented areas of Greece. Some of these studies have shown the intentional deposition of charred plant remains in ritual contexts as a specific action designed to preserve the materials. The plant remains can be seen as the deliberate transformation of material accompanying the dead or marking particular rituals, where the charring of seeds did not aim at their complete destruction but antithetically at their preservation through fire (Margaritis Reference Margaritis and Tsipopoulou2017a).

Fig. 6.1.

Papaver somniferum seeds from Late Bronze Age Kalapodi. © Douché, Niemeier and Margaritis accepted.

The most comprehensive study on this subject is Henkel’s PhD thesis (Reference Henkel2025) at the Cyprus Institute, Nicosia, entitled Beyond Diet and Agriculture: The Role of Plants Within the Ritual Landscape of Bronze Age (Minoan) Crete, which investigates the role of plants through the archaeobotanical analysis of cemeteries, sanctuaries, shrines, and other potential ritual contexts. Using a multi-proxy approach – combining macrobotanical study, SEM imaging, radiocarbon dating, phytolith, spherulite, and chemical analyses – it identifies plant use in offerings and ritual feasting, particularly in connection with ancestor veneration. In tandem with previous research, evidence shows that commonly cultivated staples were central to these events, revealing an intersection between sacred and everyday life. The study is a significant step forward for current understandings of Minoan ritual complexity and the socio-religious significance of plants in Bronze Age Crete.

In addition to reviews on a regional level (e.g. Henkel and Margaritis Reference Henkel and Margaritis2024 on Crete), other reviews have brought together archaeobotanical data to compare different regions as well as to discuss new species. One such review is by Maltas (Reference Maltas2025), who has made a significant contribution by synthesizing and comparing archaeobotanical data from northern and southern Greece and western Anatolia, dating to the Neolithic and Bronze Age. Throughout Greece, trends in crop diversity and cultivation intensity show a shift in farming practices. In northern Greece, more intensive farming systems continued from the Neolithic into the Bronze Age. However, in southern Greece and western Anatolia, there was a move towards more extensive farming systems around the Final Neolithic/Late Chalcolithic–Early Bronze Age. This ‘extensification’ may be linked to changes in social and political organization. Furthermore, several trends align with the Middle Bronze Age, suggesting a connection to climatic changes at the end of the Early Bronze Age.

Filipovic et al. (Reference Filipovic, Jones, Kirleis, Bogaard, Ballantyne, Charles, de Vareilles, Ergun, Gkatzogia, Holguin, Hristova, Karathanou, Kapcia, Knežić, Kotzamani, Lathiras, Livarda, Marinova, Michou, Mosulishvili, Mueller-Bieniek, Obradovic, Padgett, Paraskevopoulou, Petridou, Stylianakou, Zerl, Vidas and Valamoti2024) have focused on prehistoric Triticum timopheevii (Timopheev’s wheat) first identified in northern Greece as a prehistoric cereal. Now known at 89 sites across southeastern and eastern Europe, including Greece, dating from the Neolithic to the Iron Age, this wheat was sometimes a minor component in mixed crops like maslin. However, in specific contexts, it was a pure crop, suggesting it was intentionally cultivated. Valamoti, Fyntikoglou and Symponis (Reference Valamoti, Fyntikoglou and Symponis2022) have also provided a review of archaeobotanical remains of northern Greece using a new digital tool, Arbodat (see also below). Valamoti (Reference Valamoti2016) reviews the evidence for millet and suggests that during the Late Bronze Age it was introduced to northern Greece from Eurasia, likely spreading westward from China. The introduction of millet coincides with the appearance of horses, suggesting that both may have been brought by horse-breeding cultures from the north. While it became an established crop, isotopic evidence indicates that millet consumption was not widespread, but limited to certain regions, settlements, or individuals.

Another regional study compares Crete and Cyprus during the Bronze Age. Past research has linked agricultural surplus to the rise of urban centres, but this connection is more complex, as evidenced by the diverse urban development trajectories of Crete and Cyprus. Despite similar environments, the two islands’ paths to urbanism differed. Archaeobotanical remains can help decipher this process and the study suggests that specific farming practices, such as crop diversification, ‘cash crop’ cultivation, and the use of animal traction and manure, may be correlated with the emergence of urbanism (Margaritis and Henkel Reference Margaritis, Henkel, Vavouranakis and Voskos2022). A regional study by Marinova and Valamoti (Reference Marinova, Valamoti, Marinova, Valamoti, Chevalier and Peña-Chocarro2014) provided a broad overview of crop diversity and changes from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age in southeastern Europe, including Greece and Bulgaria.

Archaeobotanical research on historical periods

Turning to the historical periods, a milestone is formed by two PhD theses that make a significant contribution to the discipline and move beyond site specific reports. The first, by E. Gkatzogia (Reference Gkatzogia2021) at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, entitled Oι κοινωνίϵς της Eποχής του Σιδήρου στην Κϵντρική Μακϵδονία μέσα από τα αρχαιοβοτανικά κατάλοιπα, διατροϕικές συνήθϵιϵς, αγροτικές πρακτικές και χρήση του χώρου (Iron Age Societies in Central Macedonia Through Archaeobotanical Remains: Dietary Habits, Agricultural Practices, and Land Use), investigated human plant-based subsistence in northern Greece during the Iron Age through archaeobotanical remains from three settlements: Karabournaki (ID 3077), Thessaloniki Toumba, and Polichni (ID 2708). Due to limited archaeobotanical research for this period in central Macedonia, the study addressed a significant gap in current understandings of Iron Age agriculture.

The second PhD thesis takes us to southern Greece and the Peloponnese. K. Tsirtsi’s work at the Cyprus Institute, Nicosia, entitled Agricultural and Domestic Practices in Classical Sikyon: Evidence from the Archaeobotanical Remains and Utilitarian Pots (Reference Tsirtsi2022), provides evidence of agrarian life at the Classical–Early Hellenistic site of Sikyon, and she combines macro and micro botanical research (starch analysis) to reconstruct agricultural practices and cooking activities at the site, within the context of the first millennium BC Peloponnese.

Research into the domestic life of the first millennium BC in Greece has also been greatly enriched by site-focused studies. These studies, such as those from Methone in Macedonia (ID 12878; Livarda and Bouchard-Perron Reference Livarda and Bouchard-Perron2020; Livarda et al. Reference Livarda, Veropoulidou, Vasileiadou, Picornell Gelabert, Morris and Papadopoulos2023), Karphi (ID 2898; Scarry and Tickner Reference Scarry, Tickner and Wallace2020, with Minoan but also Iron Age phases), and Azorias in Crete (ID 5576; Scarry and Dibble Reference Scarry and Dibble2020) provide a more complete picture of daily subsistence. The Roman period is represented by very few studies such as at Eretria (Margaritis and Pagnoux Reference Margaritis, Pagnoux, Theurillat, Ackermann, Duret and Zurbriggen2020).

Beyond staple crops, considerable work has been done on olive cultivation (Valamoti, Gkatzogia and Ntinou Reference Valamoti, Gkatzogia and Ntinou2018). Researchers have used experimental approaches (Braadbaart, Marinova and Sarpaki Reference Braadbaart, Marinova and Sarpaki2016) and innovative techniques and experiments like geometric morphometry to analyse olive and grape remains from sites like Sikyon (Tsirtsi et al. Reference Tsirtsi, Pagnoux, Bonhomme, Ivorra, Terral and Margaritis2023), Eretria (Margaritis and Pagnoux Reference Margaritis, Pagnoux, Theurillat, Ackermann, Duret and Zurbriggen2020), and Hellenistic farmhouses in Macedonia at the sites of Komboloi, Duvari, and Tria Platania (Margaritis et al. Reference Margaritis, Pagnoux, Bouby, Bonhomme, Ivora, Tsirtsi and Terral2021). These studies offer a deeper understanding of ancient agricultural practices and the development of specialized crops (see also below).

More recently, research has expanded beyond subsistence and fruit cultivation to explore plant remains from ritual contexts. Analyses from sites such as the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Poros (Sarpaki Reference Sarpaki2019), Mt Lykaion (ID 2419; Margaritis Reference Margaritis2015b), the Oracle of Acheron (Gkatzogia and Kodjapopoulou Reference Gkatzogia and Kotjabopoulou2019), and Lefkandi (ID 5572; Livarda and Kotzamani Reference Livarda, Kotzamani, Lemos and Tsingarida2019) are providing a new line of evidence, revealing the symbolic and ceremonial use of plants and complementing ongoing archaeological developments in prehistoric Greece.

A comprehensive review examines agricultural practices in first millennium BC Greece (Douché, Tsirtsi and Margaritis Reference Douché, Tsirtsi and Margaritis2021). The paper examines archaeobotanical data from the urban centres of Sikyon and Olynthos (ID 8114). The study reveals a broad-spectrum staple economy, with the unusual discovery of sesame and pine remains. By comparing these finds with other available records, the research provides a new overview of exploited plants during this period, highlighting the unique plant economy of these sites. Valamoti et al. (Reference Valamoti, Gkatzogia, Hristova, Marinova, Gimatzidis, Pieniążek and Mangaloğlu-Votruba2018) lead a regional study comparing evidence from the Balkans, which brings together old and new archaeobotanical evidence from Iron Age sites in northern Greece and southern Bulgaria to analyse crop cultivation and other plant use; another study reviews the domestic and ritual use of plants from the Early Iron Age (Margaritis Reference Margaritis, Ainian, Alexandridrou and Charalambidou2017b).

Ethnographic and experimental work and advanced methodologies

A milestone ethnographic work is Paul Halstead’s book ‘Two Oxen Ahead’: Pre-Mechanized Farming in the Mediterranean (Reference Halstead2014), which highlights the valuable contribution that knowledge of recent practices can make to our understanding of husbandry in prehistoric and Greco-Roman times with a lot of important information relevant to archaeobotanical work. Ethnographic work is also included in the Halstead, Bogaard and Jones (Reference Halstead, Bogaard, Jones, Valamoti, Dimoula and Ntinou2022) paper, incorporated alongside archaeobotanical and textual evidence from Bronze Age Greece. Ethnographic work from Kea focuses on present day acorn food gathering and processing on the Aegean island of Kea in Greece (Mayer Reference Mayer, Valamoti, Dimoula and Ntinou2022). It demonstrates that a small group of four–five individuals can, in less than one month, gather and store enough acorns to feed themselves and hundreds of others (a small village) for an entire year, supplementing other plant and animal food resources. Halstead (Reference Halstead, Valamoti, Dimoula and Ntinou2022) also documents traditional methods of growing and consuming glume wheats, based on interviews with both elderly Greek farmers who grew them in the past and younger ones who have recently revived their cultivation. The interviews provide new insights into the husbandry of glume wheats and the reasons for their recent resurgence, which range from organic farming potential to romanticized notions of ancient culinary history. Ethnographic along with archaeobotanical information mainly concerning cereals can also be found in a recent edited volume (Valamoti et al. Reference Valamoti, Dimoula and Ntinou2022).

Ethnographic and experimental work has focused on ‘ancient recipes’ in an attempt to interpret remains of ground cereals (e.g. Valamoti et al. Reference Valamoti, Petridou, Berihuete-Azorín, Stika, Papadopoulou and Mimi2021; see also below). Experimental work has also focused on spelt wheat with the aim of developing a protocol for charring experiments to explore how heating affects cereal grain structure. The goal of the study was to standardize the process of creating charred reference material, allowing for meaningful comparisons and more reliable interpretations of ancient cereal foods in the future (Berihuete Azorin et al. Reference Berihuete Azorin, Stika, Bourliva, Papadopoulou and Valamoti2019), as well as brewing conditions (Heiss et al. Reference Heiss, Berihuete-Azorín, Antolín, Kubiak-Martens, Marinova, Arendt, Biliaderis, Kretschmer, Lazaridou, Stika, Zarnkow, Baba, Bleicher, Ciałowicz, Chłodnicki, Matuschik, Schlichtherle and Valamoti2020; see below).

Ethnographic research has also been conducted in the Cyclades to document the islands’ near-forgotten agricultural heritage. This work on the island of Therasia investigated traditional plant varieties, farming practices, and the dietary habits and plant uses of the recent past to uncover the historical relationship between people and plants (Gkatzogia Reference Gkatzogia2025b).

A novel approach including ethnographic, experimental and archaeobotanical research derives from the ongoing PhD work of A. Kriti (in preparation) at University Rovira i Virgili, Spain, entitled ‘Feeding the Gap’: Contemporary, Controlled Experiments on the Impact of Agricultural Practices and Heating Conditions on Aegean Barley (Hordeum vulgare) Landraces. This investigates how different Greek barley landraces respond to varied management regimes and how these effects are preserved after carbonization. Using 3D scanning and analysis of the heat-affected grains, the research explores the impact of carbonization on morphology and offers a new methodological approach for archaeobotanical studies in the Aegean. Additionally, Henkel’s PhD (Reference Henkel2025; mentioned above) has much benefited from the experimental work undertaken as part of the Tephra project, where charring experiments are used to interpret plant remains in funerary contexts (Henkel and Margaritis Reference Henkel and Margaritis2023).

Food remains and scanning electron microscopy

A good deal of work has been undertaken on charred food remains, which is primarily the result of the PlantCult project.

Using stereomicroscopy and SEM, several studies explore ancient food preparation methods such as grinding, boiling, and malting. These studies highlight the potential of systematically studying cereal-based food remains to reveal the diverse food transformation practices shaped by ingredients, cultural traditions, and environmental factors (Valamoti et al. Reference Valamoti, Marinova, Heiss, Hristova, Petridou, Popova, Michou, Papadopoulou, Chrysostomou, Darcque, Grammenos, Iliev, Kotsos, Koukouli- Chrysanthaki, Leshtakov, Malamidou, Merousis, Nikolav, Nikov, Panayotova and Ruseva2019, Reference Valamoti, Petridou, Berihuete-Azorín, Stika, Papadopoulou and Mimi2021; Valamoti and Petridou Reference Valamoti, Petridou, Valamoti, Dimoula and Ntinou2022). Work was undertaken on charred organic remains, which were identified as cereals (Fig. 6.2), and the study reconstructs different chaînes opératoires for handling bread-like remains (Heiss et al. Reference Heiss, Antolin, Berihuete-Azorín, Biederer, Erlach, Gail, Griebl, Linke, Lochner, Marinova, Oberndorfer, Stika and Valamoti2019). Other studies have focused on the identification of brewing, by using laboratory experiments to reproduce malting and subsequent charring to investigate how microstructural changes in cereal grains are preserved in the archaeological record. The research aims to understand how ancient malting processes might be identified in charred plant remains (Heiss et al. Reference Heiss, Berihuete-Azorín, Antolín, Kubiak-Martens, Marinova, Arendt, Biliaderis, Kretschmer, Lazaridou, Stika, Zarnkow, Baba, Bleicher, Ciałowicz, Chłodnicki, Matuschik, Schlichtherle and Valamoti2020). Although this study – as is also the case for Heiss et al. (Reference Heiss, Antolin, Berihuete-Azorín, Biederer, Erlach, Gail, Griebl, Linke, Lochner, Marinova, Oberndorfer, Stika and Valamoti2019) and Hristova et al. (Reference Hristova, Marinova, Heiss, Papadopoulou, Nikolov, Popov, Iliev and Valamoti2019) – did not focus on archaeobotanical remains from Greece, it represents a methodological tool that can be used across space and time.

Fig. 6.2

‘Bread like’ organic mass from Late Bronze Age Kalapodi. © Douché, Niemeier and Margaritis accepted.

European funded projects and databases

The ERC-funded PlantCult project investigated the role of plant-based culinary practices in shaping social and cultural identities during prehistory. The project’s goal was to identify and trace the transformation of culinary cultures from the Aegean to Central Europe. By focusing on key sites with abundant remains of plant foods – such as bread, beer, oil, and wine – the research explores how innovation in food preparation contributed to social cohesion and differentiation, including the emergence of elites. The broad geographic scope allows the team to study the east–west dynamic of these cultural developments (Valamoti et al. Reference Valamoti, Jacomet, Stika and Heiss2017).

Resulting from this project, the ArboDat database uses a standardized system to record archaeobotanical data across Europe. Its structural data includes a list of 5,000 plant taxa, each with a unique plant code (PCODE) and botanical name. The database also provides pre-defined terms for various parameters, such as site and plant remains, through pull-down menus. This uniform data entry ensures consistency and comparability among researchers (Valamoti et al. Reference Valamoti, Dimoula and Ntinou2022).

Another archaeobotanical database has also been created. PlantBi(bli)oArch is a new, free online database that archives published and grey literature on archaeobotanical studies in the central and eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. It was created to increase the visibility of research in the region, which is often difficult to find, and to make it easier for scholars to conduct comparative studies and meta-analyses. The database currently includes 2,238 publications with their abstracts, and its creators invite contributions to ensure its continued growth and usefulness (Koullouros et al. Reference Koullouros, Mardini, Margaritis and Nikita2025).

Another project relevant to Greek archaeobotany is the ERC Synergy Grant for a five-year project named EXPLO: Exploring the dynamics and causes of prehistoric land use change in the cradle of European farming, awarded to an international team from the universities of Bern, Oxford, and Thessaloniki. This project, combining archaeology, biology, and climate science, analyses unique lake archives from Greece (such as the lake settlement of Dispilio, ID 14383; Ergun et al. Reference Ergun, Gkatzogia, Kotzachristou, Margaritis and Bogaard2023), Albania, and North Macedonia. The aim is to reconstruct the relationship between climate, environment, and early farming communities over the past 10,000 years to understand their adaptation strategies.

The ERC project Mycenaean Social Belonging from an Integrative Bioarchaeological Perspective (MySocialBeIng), led by Professor Philip Stockhammer and the University of Munich, investigates Mycenaean social belonging through a bioarchaeological approach. The project will analyse 500 individuals from Bronze Age cemeteries across Greece, using archaeological and archaeogenetic methods to determine biological relationships, diet, and mobility. Specifically, archaeobotanical remains from funerary contexts will undergo isotope analysis to provide insights into ancient diet and agricultural practice.

Greek archaeobotany since 2015: achievements, gaps, and the way forward

Archaeobotanical research in Greece has undergone a transformative decade, characterized by significant growth in data volume and by the widespread adoption of sophisticated analytical techniques. The discipline has moved beyond its traditional prehistoric focus, with PhD theses focusing on the historical periods, demonstrating its indispensable value to Classical and later archaeology by providing direct evidence of ancient foodways, agricultural economies, and human–environment interactions. It is important to note that archaeobotanical work is now routinely included in volumes dedicated to Classical archaeology and these are not merely appendices, indicating the great progress in that era (e.g. Margaritis Reference Margaritis, Haggis and Antonaccio2015a; Reference Margaritis, Harris, Lewis and Woolmer2016; Pagnoux and Zurbach Reference Pagnoux, Zurbach, Hollander and Howe2020).

New discoveries have refined our understanding of the resilience of staple crop systems, revealed the complex, long-term development of viticulture and olive cultivation, and highlighted dynamic processes of agricultural diversification through the introduction of new plant taxa.

One of the most significant advances in Greek archaeobotany is the integration of diverse proxies, both within the discipline and with other fields of archaeology. The combination of macro remains, seeds, fruits, and wood charcoal with micro remains, phytoliths, and starches is now a central part of the methodology. This approach overcomes the limitations of a single proxy and provides a more comprehensive picture of plant use. Examples include research at Franchthi (ID 2967; Asouti, Ntinou and Kabukcu Reference Asouti, Ntinou and Kabukcu2018), Kynos (Ntinou et al. Reference Ntinou, Karathanou, Pagnoux, Valamoti, Valamoti, Dimoula and Ntinou2022), Alepotrypa (Ntinou and Tsartsidou Reference Ntinou and Tsartsidou2016), Avgi (Stratouli et al. Reference Stratouli, Bekiaris, Katsikaridis, Kloukinas, Koromila, Kyrillidou, Andreasen, Kalogiropoulou, Kotsachristou, Maniatis, Margaritis, Metaxas, Papayianni, Theodoropoulou and Tzevelekidi2020), Tiryns (Vetters et al. Reference Vetters, Brysbaert, Ntinou, Tsartsidou and Margaritis2016), and Koumasa (Tsirtsi et al. Reference Tsirtsi, Gkinoudis, Panagiotopoulos, Garcia Granero and Margaritisin press), which demonstrate how different plant remains can be used together to reconstruct specific activities. This trend is evident in current scholarship, and also represents a great opportunity for integration in other sites, the study of which has been presented in different venues such as Lyktos (Margaritis et al. Reference Margaritis, Tsirtsi, Koulouros, Sithiakaki, Chaniotis and Kotsonas2024) and Dhaskalio (ID 6626; Mavromati et al. Reference Mavromati, Ntinou, Tsartsidou, Cizer, Margaritis, Boyd and Renfrew2024). This is further highlighted in PhD theses, such as those by Tsirtsi and Henkel, which successfully combined macro- and micro remains.

Archaeobotanical data is increasingly being combined with other archaeological evidence, most notably animal bones. This zooarchaeobotanical approach provides a more complete picture of ancient subsistence, diet, and economy, showing how plant cultivation and animal husbandry were intertwined. This has been applied at sites such as Azorias (Scarry and Dibble Reference Scarry and Dibble2020), Olynthos (Nevett et al. Reference Nevett, Bettina Tsigarida, Archibald, Stone, Ault, Akamatis, Cuijpers, Donati, García-Granero, Hartenberger, Horsley, Lancelotti, Margaritis, Alcaina-Mateos, Nanoglou, Panti, Papadopoulos, Pecci, Salminen, Sarris, Stallibrass, Tzochev and Valdambrini2020), Koropi (Mexi et al. Reference Mexi, Douni, Margaritis, Hadjikoumis, Papadimitriou, Wright, Fachard, Polychronakou-Sgouritsa and Andrikou2020), and Vathy (Vlachopoulos et al. Reference Vlachopoulos, Kazatzis, Ntinou, Mylona and Margaritis2024), and is an excellent research trend for both prehistoric and historical sites.

The PlantCult project not only advanced archaeobotanical research but also brought together experimental and ethnographic work and multidisciplinary approaches, connecting plant remains with ground stone tools (Chondrou et al. Reference Chondrou, Valamoti, Procopiou and Papadopolou2018; Valamoti et al. Reference Valamoti, Chondrou, Bekiaris, Ninou, Alonso, Bofill Martinez, Ivanova, Laparidou, McNamee, Palomo, Papadopoulou, Prats, Procopiou and Tsartsidou2020b) and pottery studies, which all contributed to the reconstruction of culinary practices. All this work is included in a very comprehensive study that combines all available data, titled Cooking With Plants In Ancient Europe And Beyond: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Archaeology of Plant Foods (Valamoti, Dimoula and Ntinou Reference Valamoti, Dimoula and Ntinou2022). Another book, Plant Foods of Greece: A Culinary Journey to the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, has also been published by S.M. Valamoti (Reference Valamoti2023). A significant contribution to archaeobotany is also found in Food Crops in Ancient Greek Cuisine: An Archaeobotanical and Textual Study, which combines archaeobotany with written sources (Valamoti, Fyntikoglou and Symponis Reference Valamoti, Fyntikoglou and Symponis2022).

In addition to interdisciplinary integration, archaeobotanical research in Greece has expanded into new geographical areas and introduced new analytical methods. Research is no longer concentrated solely on the major mainland sites. Archaeobotanical studies are now extending to island complexes such as the Dodecanese, the Cyclades, and the North Aegean, as seen in recent work by Maltas, Philaniotou and Margaritis (Reference Maltas, Philaniotou and Margaritis2024), focusing on urbanization in the Aegean. This broader geographic scope provides crucial insights into regional variations in plant use and agricultural strategies. The field is also embracing new analytical techniques, such as the use of isotopic analysis. When combined with the study of macro remains, this approach provides a deeper understanding of agricultural strategies and diet, offering clues about everything from soil fertility to crop watering. The application of geometric morphometry has also advanced our understanding of arboriculture, providing a fine multiscale approach to past agricultural systems.

Besides the wealth of work in the last decade, there are certain challenges involving consistency in the quality of archaeobotanical analysis, including the number of samples collected per site and the quantification methods employed. Furthermore, a notable issue is the lack of specific legislation concerning bioarchaeological research in Greece, meaning that the systematic collection and study of archaeobotanical material often depend on the initiative of conscientious archaeologists (e.g. sampling is not usually undertaken on rescue excavations). This results in fragmentary data prohibiting the creation of large-scale comparisons. To this end, a recent publication on sampling strategies and other methodological tools has been produced (Maltas, Tsirtsi and Margaritis Reference Maltas, Tsirtsi, Margaritis, Margaritis, Oikonomou, Nikita and Rehren2023; see Margaritis et al. 2023 for a comprehensive review of methods and sampling methodologies). Another weak point can be a lack of fruitful communication between specialists and site directors, who may not follow the sampling protocols although specific guidelines are provided.

Archaeobotany in Greece is a dynamic field that offers crucial long-term perspectives on human–plant co-evolution, ancient economies, and environmental adaptation. However, challenges in the dissemination of research and accessibility of data continue to hinder its full potential. A significant hurdle in the field is the slow and fragmented dissemination of scientific findings. Much research is published in edited volumes, which often have lengthy publication timelines. This contrasts sharply with peer-reviewed journal articles, which are the standard for rapid dissemination and are generally considered to be of higher quality. Furthermore, within edited volumes, individual chapters often stand alone, with authors failing to integrate their data with the work of others. This lack of cross-referencing and synthesis prevents the development of a unified, comprehensive understanding of the research landscape.

On a more positive note, the field has made significant strides in engaging the non-academic public. The increased prominence of public events and workshops in schools has been instrumental in making archaeobotanical research more accessible to a broader audience (Fig. 6.3). This development is crucial for generating interest and support for the discipline beyond the academic community. Despite challenges, the field’s collaborative nature, involving both Greek and international institutions, is a powerful driver of progress. This collaboration is fundamentally reshaping our understanding of ancient societies and providing vital long-term perspectives that are highly relevant to contemporary discussions on sustainability and human resilience. The future of archaeobotanical research in Greece is promising, with the potential to offer even deeper and more nuanced insights into the rich tapestry of human–plant co-evolution.

Fig. 6.3

Two-day workshop on archaeobotanical work for primary school students, Archaeological Museum of Sikyon. Organized by the Ephorate of Corinthia.