The role of plants in early agropastoral alpine communities: New dietary and environmental signatures from dental calculus, Middle Neolithic Barmaz I and I (Valais, Switzerland)
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1Reflecting regionally specific adaptations to the environmental conditions of the inner Alps, the distinctive Neolithic trajectories of the Rhone Valley are characterised by increasingly elaborate funerary traditions, southern transalpine influences, and a focus on sheep/goat herding. In contrast to adjacent regions such as the Swiss Plateau and the French Alps, archaeobotanical and archaeozoological evidence from the Rhone Valley provides limited indication for the exploitation of wild species. Instead, local food systems appear to have been based predominantly on domesticates within the fertile alluvial plain and lower slopes of the valley. However, our understanding of past plant use is often constrained by the inherent biases associated with the carbonisation of plant remains and study of storage contexts.
2The analysis of microbotanical signatures from various contexts – such as starch granules recovered from grindstones or dental calculus – offers a direct means of studying past processing and consumption of plant species typically ‘invisible’ in archaeological contexts. As part of an ongoing SNSF project applying a multi-disciplinary approach to study Neolithic socio-economic trajectories in the Rhone Valley, this paper presents new microbotanical data recovered from the dental calculus of 22 individuals from Barmaz I and II (4500-3800 BCE). Alongside domesticated Triticeae cereals, evidence for underground storage organs and past cooking practices reveal additional aspects of Neolithic plant use and diet. Contextualised within existing studies, these finding provide a complementary perspective and highlight the importance of integrating microbotanical approaches into broader multiproxy frameworks.
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Charlie Le Moyne, Déborah Rosselet-Christ et Jocelyne Desideri, « The role of plants in early agropastoral alpine communities: New dietary and environmental signatures from dental calculus, Middle Neolithic Barmaz I and I (Valais, Switzerland) », Bulletins et mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris [En ligne], 38(S) | 2026, mis en ligne le 16 décembre 2025, consulté le 08 mars 2026. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/bmsap/17340 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/15hif
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