ALONSO N., ROVIRA N. - Plant uses and storage in the 5th century bc Etruscan quarter of the city of Lattara, France. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 25, 2016, p. 323-337.
Keywords : Plant uses Storage Etruscans Iron age Southern France Archaeobotany
Abstract :
An area between land and water was chosen in the 7th century bc by native Gauls and foreign Etruscan and Greek merchants to establish a commercial enclave. Then, in the early 5th century bc, this initial settlement at La Cougourlude with post-built houses on the banks of the small coastal river Lironde was relocated to the margins of a nearby lagoon along the Mediterranean coast, giving rise to the walled port city of Lattara. Archaeological excavations undertaken in the 2000s along the southern wall of Lattara in Quarter 27 revealed three houses which contained almost exclusively Etruscan pottery. The objective of this study is to analyse the archaeobotanical remains from these dwellings so as to identify the plant foods which were consumed and used by their inhabitants, as well as the methods of storage. The question arises whether anything particularly relating to Etruscan origins can be detected from the diet of the inhabitants. To study this aspect we have compared the data collected during the excavation with research undertaken at neighbouring settlements dating from periods either older, contemporary with or younger than Lattara, as well as research undertaken at sites in the Etruscan area of Italy.
