Paleobotanical materials from the Slavic site of Sverdlovske 1 in the Chernihiv region

Materials of botanical origin in question come from archaeological excavations in the Early Slavic settlement Sverdlovske 1 (Chernihiv region) in 2016—2017. The settlement is dated back to the last quarter of the first millnnium AD and is attributed to the Romny culture. The data on cultivated plants and weeds as well as on charcoal were obtained. We could obtain paleobotanical data in two ways. Flotation was applied as the method to obtain more detailed collection of small-sized botanical materials. Using the flotation method, carbonized (burnt) residues including charcoal were collected. We also analyzed imprints of grains and seeds of cultivated plants and weeds on clay products found in 2015—2017. The second method is studying imprints of grain on ceramics. The paleoethnobotanical material (grain and seeds of cultivated plants and associated weeds) was identified due to its comparison with previously determined similar samples, with a wide range of publications on this topic and with modern comparative collections. Sorts of wood have been identified after characteristic microscopic features on three sections. Further, they were compared with the data in wood determinants. Wood was defined to genus. Material under study included residues of cultivated plants (proso millet, barley, emmer wheat, soft wheat, rye, peas and lentil) and weeds (field bindweed and bristle grasses) as well as charcoal (pine, oak, birch and poplar or aspen). Studying the paleoethnobotanical materials displayed high rye values together with a practical lack of weeds. It is an indication of an extensive level of farming, most likely it was slash farming. Comparative study of paleoethnobotanical materials from different sites showed a significant difference in grain production (and therefore agriculture) of the Volyntsevo-Romny culture sites in general and the specific sites of Chernihiv Polissia. It is important that these results were confirmed both by prints on ceramics and by macro-residues. A fuel wood from the Sverdlovske 1 site found in heating structures consisted of oak, pine, birch and aspen. Construction timber principally consisted of pine. The timber wood identified could be considered as traditional for forest zone. Fuel wood composition considered according to ethnographic analogies can be considered as traditional for forest and forest-steppe zones. However, the insufficient material currently complicates comparative studies of materials from synchronous sites. The importance of the data obtained is due to a scanty amount of materials of botanical origin from the Romny culture sites known to date.

本研究涉及的植物源性材料，采自2016—2017年对斯维尔德洛夫斯克1号（Sverdlovske 1）早期斯拉夫聚落（位于切尔尼戈夫州）的考古发掘工作。该聚落的年代可追溯至公元1千年纪末期，归属于罗姆尼文化（Romny culture）。本次研究获取了栽培植物、杂草以及木炭的相关数据。

古植物学数据的获取主要通过两种途径：一是浮选法（flotation），该方法用于采集更为细致的小型植物源性材料，通过浮选可收集到包括木炭在内的炭化（燃烧后）遗存；二是陶片印痕分析，我们还对2015—2017年出土的陶制器物上栽培植物与杂草的籽粒印痕进行了分析。

古民族植物学（paleoethnobotany）遗存（栽培植物的籽粒、种子以及伴生杂草）的鉴定，通过与已确认的同类标本、该领域的大量相关文献以及现代对照标本馆藏进行比对完成。木材类别的鉴定则依据三个切面的典型微观特征展开，随后将鉴定结果与木材检索表（wood determinants）中的数据进行比对，最终将木材鉴定至属一级。

本次研究的遗存包括栽培植物遗存（糜子、大麦、二粒小麦、普通小麦、黑麦、豌豆以及小扁豆）、杂草遗存（田旋花与狗尾草属植物）以及木炭遗存（松、栎、桦以及杨或山杨）。对古民族植物学遗存的分析结果显示，黑麦占比极高，而杂草占比极低，这表明当时的农业生产规模较大，极有可能为刀耕火种农业（slash farming）。

对不同遗址古民族植物学遗存的对比研究显示，整体而言沃林采沃-罗姆尼文化（Volyntsevo-Romny culture）遗址与切尔尼戈夫波列西耶（Chernihiv Polissia）地区的特定遗址在谷物生产（进而在农业发展水平）上存在显著差异。值得注意的是，该结果同时得到了陶片印痕与大遗存分析的印证。

斯维尔德洛夫斯克1号遗址采暖结构中发现的薪柴遗存主要由栎、松、桦以及山杨构成，建筑用材则以松为主。所鉴定的用材树种可视为森林地带的传统用材；依据民族志类比分析，该薪柴组成可视为森林与森林草原地带的传统薪柴组合。但目前遗存材料的不足，使得对同期遗址遗存的对比研究变得复杂。

本次获取的数据之所以具有重要价值，是因为截至目前，已发现的罗姆尼文化遗址的植物源性遗存材料极为匮乏。