Dear Alys,
Charred half apples are frequently found in Neoltihic settements all over Central and Northern Europe.
During the Bronze Age period these half/dried apples are sometimes associated with with acorns. For Central Europe we published a comment on such find assemblages in a review on carbonised acorns in ceramic vessels from several pile dwellings sites in the Alpine region. This article is in German language... I could send you a PDF if you wish.
Karg S., J.N. Haas (1996): Indizien für den Gebrauch von mitteleuropäischen Eicheln als prähistorische Nahrungsressource. Tübinger Monographien zur Urgeschichte 11 (Festschrift H. Müller-Beck), 429-435.
Best wishes
Sabine Karg
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Sendt: 21. september 2010 23:18
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Emne: Re: Malus endocarp
I'll have a closer look tomorrow but I know of a couple sites where the charred apple seed deposits were so large it would have to have been whole apple/core dumping.
On 21 Sep 2010, at 23:24, Alys Vaughan-Williams <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hello,
> I'm working on a few samples from a Neolithic enclosure site in Ireland.
> One sample from a possible cist contains a number of charred apple seeds
> (Malus sylvestris) and also a couple of fragments of endocarps. I have
> read Monk 1988 who found charred Malus endocarps. The article refers to
> the apples having been dried prior to charring. I was wondering if an
> endocarp has to be dried for it to be preserved through charring?
>
> The site is also believed to be ritual due to the artefacts recovered.
> Does anyone know of any examples of ritual deposition of apples? Would a
> whole apple thrown on a fire burn down to just the core / seeds? The
> only other material preserved in this sample were fragments of hazelnut
> shell (Corylus avellana) and a few cereal grains.
>
> Thanks
> Alys
> -----------------------------
> Alys Vaughan-Williams
> Consultant Archaeobotanist
> www.alysvaughanwilliams.co.uk
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