Environmental Archaeology of Volubilis, Morocco

Volubis is the site of the ancient Roman regional centre in the western North African province of Mauretania Tingitana, now Morocco.

A joint excavation project of UCL and INSAP (the Institute of Archaeology and Heritage of Morocco) has been carried out annually since 2001.

Volubilis takes its name from the ancient Latin name for the Oleander flower, seen here flourishing in the oued (wadi) at the bottom of the site in April.

Dr. Fuller has been involved in the project as its chief environmental archaeologist. During the 2002 excavation season further sampling of evidence for the ancient environment and economy was carried out, and some laboratory analysis of samples from 2001 and 2002 was completed. Sampling included flotation of 40L of sediment from many archaeological contexts, which yielded charred plant remains including wood charcoal and seeds. In 2002 this was carried out with the assistance of UCL student Anne de Varielles, who is working on some this material. In addition Anne conducted some ethnographic interviews with local agriculturalists about traditional crops, crop-processing and storage methods. These contexts and selected other contexts were systematically sieved for the recovery of faunal remains, which are now being studied by Jenny Bredenberg, a PhD student at UCL. In addition, small sediment samples were collected from various contexts, and floor levels in order to conduct phosphate analysis and extract phytoliths (plant micro remains), although these analyses have not yet been carried out.
 

Sector D during excavations in April 2001

Excavations in 2002 revealed that most of the levels sampled in 2001 are likely to be sub-modern (19^th century AD), and the plant remains from these levels therefore provide evidence of recent traditional agriculture which can be more directly compared to that in living memory recorded through ethnographic interviews. This will then provide a basis for assessing how agriculture has changed since the early Islamic period, and once samples are available, since the Roman period. During 2002 contexts were sampled that date to the early Islamic period (8^th-9^th century AD)

Ongoing archaeobotanical analysis indicates that at least two kinds of wheat are present, including a hulled wheat (emmer) and a free-threshing wheat, although it not clear whether this is bread wheat or durum in most samples. By the nineteenth century we would expect both types to be cultivated as they were in living memory and currently. For earlier periods, the variety of free-threshing wheat is significant from the point of view of culinary traditions, since they are conventionally associated with bread and couscous preparations respectively. Elsewhere in North Africa, bread wheat appears to be associated with the Roman period, while durum seems to disperse during Byzantine or early Islamic times. The presence of a hulled cereal, probably emmer, is also significant as this is no longer cultivated in the Volubilis region, although it is remembered as a crop during the childhood period of elderly ethnographic informants. These hulled cereals are more likely to have been part of the prehistoric (Neolithic?) dispersal of agriculture across North Africa. Cereal chaff is generally rare, which will constrain species level identification of the wheats, but also suggests that cereals are likely to have been more fully processed prior to storage, with waste being produced off-site and probably used as animal fodder.

In addition to the cereals a number of other crops have been identified, including broad bean, lentils, linseed (or flax), and probable melon. Other fruits are olives, grapes, and figs. A high concentration of phosphate-mineralised grape seeds and some melon seeds from a pit context (US 91) which suggests that its final use was as a cess pit, presumably during sub-modern occupation. In addition to crop species a wide range of wild seeds are present in small quantities. At least 22 different species are present. Most of these species are likely to have been recurrent weeds of crops fields which came onto the site as contaminants in the crops. Therefore the full analysis of the these species, will provide ecological information about the agricultural fields, such as soil conditions, including fertility level (as through manuring), tillage and irrigation. A few oat grains present are likely to be weedy plats that frequently infest wheat and barley crops.

Phosphate analysis should be able to provide information about areas of the site (such as in buildings or courtyard spaces), where animals were recurrently penned, as high phosphates results from animal waste that otherwise decays. Phytolith samples may also provide information of the spatial pattern of plant use, such as the use of mats, disposal or storage of crop processing waste, and perhaps evidence for concrentrations of animal dung. The laboratory analyses of these datasets, will therefore complement the results of the archaeobotanical seed data and the animal bone evidence. Animal use at Volubilis is being examined by Jenny Bredenberg, a research student in archaeozoology at UCL. Analyses to date indicate the predominance of cattle, sheep and goat as sources of meat, as well as the use of edible snails (especially Cernuella virgata and Otala lactea), found in considerable quantity in particular contexts, suggesting an earlier precedent for the escargot frequently encountered in Moroccan markets today. Future analysis of the wood charcoal will provide data about woodland composition and fuel resource use.

In addition to the archaeological data, further modern analogue data should be collected in future seasons. While the flora growing on Volubilis today has been extensively sampled, and has provided modern comparative material for identifying some for the wild/weed seeds found archaeologically, other local environments also need to be surveyed and sampled, such as the pine forests on the hills behind Moulay Idriss which differ markedly from the flora of the site and surrounding plains. In addition further ethnographic interviews should aim at issues of agricultural field tending, weeding, and uses for wild plants.

This page last modified 3 August, 2005 by Institute Webmaster