Thanks Steve for this clarification.
In Greek assemblages that have predominantly glume wheat chaff, one
finds the odd cereal fragment resulting probably from dehusking. I
would not be so sure as to whether these cereal fragments were
generated through dehusking by pounding or grinding though. If
quantity is signficant as the Meurers-Balke and Luening experiments
suggest, then the fact that they are only few would suggest that
dehusking was done by pounding.
Referring to Ruth's comments, Ruth is right in arguing that the few
fragments do not suggest a cracked wheat tradition: although
morphologically cereal fragments generated during dehusking would show
the characteristic bulging also found in bulgur, the few fragments you
encounter here and there do not suggest bulgur/cracked wheat; one
would need a rich or relatively rich concentration to be able to infer
intentional grinding of clean grain.
You never know of course, your cracked wheat might be waiting
somewhere to be found. Bulgur is a different story, you would need
many days in a row of really hot and dry weather to get the thing
drying for later use. I have experienced the dry, hot summer in the UK
in 1976 I think, but this was an exception, so weatherwise bulgur
making is not practical to produce in this part of the country (where
I happen to be at the moment!).
Greetings everybody,
Tania
Best wishes,
Tania
Quoting Steve Burrow <[log in to unmask]>:
> Hello Tania,
>
> Yes, you are right that the article deals primarily with
> experimental data, but the authors compare their results with
> archaeological evidence. Their conclusion is that dehusking by
> grinding does work but that it leads to a high number of cracked
> grains which is not comparable with the archaeobotanical assemblages
> of their study area (central Europe). My question is whether
> archaeobotanical assemblages in the UK are similarly light in grains
> cracked before carbonisation.
>
> Steve
> ________________________________________
> From: [log in to unmask] [[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 07 September 2019 00:41
> To: The archaeobotany mailing list; Steve Burrow
> Subject: Re: Dehusking glumed wheats
>
> Hello!
>
> My understanding of the paper (as far as I can recall) is that
> grinding for dehusking was not the best way as it led to actually
> fragmenting heavily the grain rather than dehusking it. I think their
> observations for the suitability of dehusking via grinding (as opposed
> to pounding as a dehusking method) are based on the experimental
> material, not on archaeological grain fragments, i.e. fragments that
> were generated prior to charring in the archaeobotanical material. BUt
> I may be wrong in how I remember the article.
>
> Best,
>
> Tania
> Quoting Steve Burrow <[log in to unmask]>:
>
>> Hello all,
>> I'm doing some work on the dehusking of glumed wheat using a range
>> of already published methodologies (pounding, rubbing against
>> leather, grinding then separating, etc). One of the main references
>> I'm using is:
>> Meurers-Balke, J, and J Lüning. 1992. "Some Aspects and Experiments
>> Concerning the Processing of Glume Wheats." In Préhistorie de
>> l'agriculture: Nouvelles Approaches Expérimentales et
>> Ethnographiques, edited by P Anderson, 341-62. Paris: CNRS.
>> In this paper the authors state that some of the techniques they
>> trialled (notably grinding) produced high quantities of cracked, but
>> that this doesn't match the archaeobotanical evidence from the area
>> they were studying (central Europe), where the proportion of grains
>> cracked before carbonisation is generally quite low. Therefore, they
>> conclude, grinding was unlikely to have been used routinely to
>> dehusk wheat.
>> I wondered whether this scarcity of grains cracked before
>> carbonisation applied to prehistoric / Roman assemblages in the UK
>> (where I'm based) as well. Could anyone offer a view?
>> Thanks in advance,
>> Steve
>>
>> YMWADIAD
>> Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg a Saesneg, ac yn sicrhau y
>> byddwn yn cyfathrebu â chi yn eich iaith ddewisol, boed yn Gymraeg,
>> Saesneg neu’r ddwy, dim ond i chi ein hysbysu. Ni fydd gohebu yn
>> Gymraeg yn peri oedi.
>> Mae pob neges e-bost a anfonir at neu gan Amgueddfa Cymru yn cael ei
>> sganio gan systemau diogelwch awtomatig. Sganiwyd y neges hon am
>> firysau cyn ei hanfon, ond dylech hefyd wirio bod y neges, a phob
>> atodiad ynddi, yn rhydd o firysau cyn ei defnyddio. Nid ydym yn
>> derbyn cyfrifoldeb am unrhyw golled neu ddifrod o ganlyniad i agor y
>> neges neu unrhyw atodiadau. Gall y neges hon ac unrhyw ffeiliau a
>> atodir ynddi gynnwys gwybodaeth gyfrinachol a fwriadwyd ar gyfer y
>> derbynnydd yn unig. Os ydych chi wedi derbyn y neges trwy
>> gamgymeriad, hysbyswch ni a dileu’r neges. Safbwyntiau personol yr
>> awdur a fynegir yn y neges hon, ac nid ydynt o reidrwydd yn
>> cynrychioli safbwyntiau Amgueddfa Cymru. Nid ydym yn derbyn
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>> wrth drosglwyddo'r neges hon.
>>
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>
>
> Soultana Maria Valamoti-Kapetanaki,
> Professor,
> Dept of Archaeology,
> School of History and Archaeology,
> Aristotle University of Thessaloniki,
> Greece
>
> http://www.hist.auth.gr/en/content/valamoti-soultana-maria
> http://iwgp-2013.web.auth.gr/
> http://auth.academia.edu/SoultanaValamoti
>
>
> YMWADIAD
> Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg a Saesneg, ac yn sicrhau y
> byddwn yn cyfathrebu â chi yn eich iaith ddewisol, boed yn Gymraeg,
> Saesneg neu’r ddwy, dim ond i chi ein hysbysu. Ni fydd gohebu yn
> Gymraeg yn peri oedi.
> Mae pob neges e-bost a anfonir at neu gan Amgueddfa Cymru yn cael ei
> sganio gan systemau diogelwch awtomatig. Sganiwyd y neges hon am
> firysau cyn ei hanfon, ond dylech hefyd wirio bod y neges, a phob
> atodiad ynddi, yn rhydd o firysau cyn ei defnyddio. Nid ydym yn
> derbyn cyfrifoldeb am unrhyw golled neu ddifrod o ganlyniad i agor y
> neges neu unrhyw atodiadau. Gall y neges hon ac unrhyw ffeiliau a
> atodir ynddi gynnwys gwybodaeth gyfrinachol a fwriadwyd ar gyfer y
> derbynnydd yn unig. Os ydych chi wedi derbyn y neges trwy
> gamgymeriad, hysbyswch ni a dileu’r neges. Safbwyntiau personol yr
> awdur a fynegir yn y neges hon, ac nid ydynt o reidrwydd yn
> cynrychioli safbwyntiau Amgueddfa Cymru. Nid ydym yn derbyn
> cyfrifoldeb am unrhyw wallau, llygredd neu esgeulustod a allai godi
> wrth drosglwyddo'r neges hon.
>
> DISCLAIMER
> We welcome correspondence in Welsh and English, and we will ensure
> that we communicate with you in the language of your choice, whether
> that’s English, Welsh or both if you let us know which you prefer.
> Corresponding in Welsh will not lead to any delay.
> E-mail to and from Amgueddfa Cymru is scanned by automated security
> systems. This message was scanned for viruses before transmission,
> but you should also satisfy yourself that the message, and all
> attachments, are virus-free before use. We can accept no
> responsibility for any loss or damage that might arise from opening
> the message or any attachments. This message and any files
> transmitted with it may contain confidential information intended
> only for the recipient. If you receive the message by mistake please
> inform us and delete it. The views expressed in this message are the
> personal views of the author and may not necessarily represent those
> of Amgueddfa Cymru. We accept no liability for any errors,
> corruption or omissions that might arise in transmission of this
> message.
>
> --
> Scanned by FuseMail.
Soultana Maria Valamoti-Kapetanaki,
Professor,
Dept of Archaeology,
School of History and Archaeology,
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki,
Greece
http://www.hist.auth.gr/en/content/valamoti-soultana-maria
http://iwgp-2013.web.auth.gr/
http://auth.academia.edu/SoultanaValamoti
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