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CATEGORIES:Branching Out Talk Series
SUMMARY:Understanding the formation of early weed floras i
 n the Neolithic period in southwest Asia - Alexand
 er Weide - University of Cambridge\, archaeology d
 epartment
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20241108T130000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20241108T140000
UID:TALK221674AThttp://talks.cam.ac.uk
URL:http://talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/221674
DESCRIPTION:Ecologically\, weeds are annuals or short-lived pe
 rennials that grow in disturbed habitats\, where t
 hey can inform about processes related to soil dis
 turbance and habitat productivity. This makes arch
 aeobotanical remains of weeds valuable for underst
 anding the development of disturbance-related acti
 vities in the past\, such as the early development
  of plant cultivation during the Neolithic period.
  Crucially\, in southwest Asia\, most species that
  successfully reproduce in crop fields also grow i
 n habitats subjected to various types of ‘natural’
  disturbance\, which makes it impossible to isolat
 e individual taxa as markers for initial cultivati
 on. We challenge this problem using plant function
 al ecology\, and present the results of two resear
 ch projects that focused on understanding soil dis
 turbance and productivity in modern grasslands and
  ‘traditionally’ managed arable fields in the Leva
 nt. The constructed ecological models distinguish 
 between these modern habitats\, and our results su
 ggest that they also successfully identify conditi
 ons of soil disturbance and productivity from arch
 aeobotanical weed assemblages dating to the early 
 and late Neolithic periods (ca. 12\,000 - 8\,250 c
 al. BP). Moreover\, our models can identify self-s
 hading as an ecological factor\, which characteris
 es some of the surveyed grasslands and may represe
 nt an indicator of vegetation density. Taken toget
 her\, plant functional ecology provides a promisin
 g tool for understanding agro-ecological processes
  in the formation of early weed floras\, which we 
 can use to reconstruct specific plant management p
 ractices that underpin crop domestication and the 
 economic strategies of the world's first farmers.
LOCATION:Zoom or in-person at Sainsbury Laboratory\, 47 Bat
 eman St\, Cambridge CB2 1LR
CONTACT:Sainsbury Laboratory
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