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This investigation combines two independent methods of identifying crop growing conditions and husbandry practices—functional weed ecology and crop stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis—in order to assess their potential for inferring the intensity of past cereal production systems using archaeobotanical assemblages. Present-day organic cereal farming in Haute Provence, France features crop varieties adapted to low-nutrient soils managed through crop rotation, with little to no manuring. Weed quadrat survey of 60 crop field transects in this region revealed that floristic variation primarily reflects geographical differences. Functional ecological weed data clearly distinguish the Provence fields from those surveyed in a previous study of intensively managed spelt wheat in Asturias, north-western Spain: as expected, weed ecological data reflect higher soil fertility and disturbance in Asturias. Similarly, crop stable nitrogen isotope values distinguish between intensive manuring in Asturias and long-term cultivation with minimal manuring in Haute Provence. The new model of cereal cultivation intensity based on weed ecology and crop isotope values in Haute Provence and Asturias was tested through application to two other present-day regimes, successfully identifying a high-intensity regime in the Sighisoara region, Romania, and low-intensity production in Kastamonu, Turkey. Application of this new model to Neolithic archaeobotanical assemblages in central Europe suggests that early farming tended to be intensive, and likely incorporated manuring, but also exhibited considerable variation, providing a finer grained understanding of cultivation intensity than previously available.

In the Neolithic megasite at Çatalhöyük families lived side by side in conjoined dwellings, like a pueblo. It can be assumed that people were always in and out of each others' houses – in this case via the roof. Social mechanisms were needed to make all this run smoothly, and in a tour-de-force of botanical, faunal and spatial analysis the authors show how it worked. Families stored their own produce of grain, fruit, nuts and condiments in special bins deep inside the house, but displayed the heads and horns of aurochs near the entrance. While the latter had a religious overtone they also remembered feasts, episodes of sharing that mitigated the provocations of a full larder.

This essay represents the first editorial of the series \"Recollections, Reflections, and Revelations: Ethnobiologists and their First Time in the Field\". In this memoir, the author details the evolvement and intellectual progression of her research focusing on wild food plant consumption within a remote community in the high steppes of Central Anatolia during the early Nineties. The author conveys a human learning journey as a woman and an ethnobiologist, reflecting on the methodological bottlenecks and solutions during her first ethnographic experience in the field.

This study examines both edible plants and non-food uses of plants in a limited area to provide clues for archaeologists, to interpret their findings including the reconstruction of former diets. The results are based on an ethnoarchaeological study conducted in 1994-1995 on the traditional subsistence economy of a contemporary village, in close proximity to a pre-ceramic Neolithic site, Aşikli, in the Aksaray province of Central Anatolia. As a part of this study, about 600 plant specimens were collected, of which over 300 were considered useful by the villagers. Through this study the floral potential of a limited area, and the richness of the traditional knowledge of plants was documented to provide clues to archaeologists, archaeobotanists, botanists, pharmacologists, economists, and perhaps to the planners of future local development projects. /// Bu çalişmada, arkeologlara karşilaştirma malzemesi sağlamak ve geçmişte yaşamiş insanlarin gida rejimleriyle yaşam biçimlerini yeniden oluşturabilmelerine yardimci olmak üzere, bir köyün 'erişim alani' içindeki yenen ve diğer amaçlarla kullanilan yararli bitkiler araştirilmiştir. 1994-1995 yillarinda Orta Anadolu'da Aksaray ilinde, çanak-çömlek öncesi Neolitik döneme ait Aşikli yerleşmesine yakin modern bir köyde geleneksel geçim ekonomisini konu alan bir etnoarkeolojik çalişma gerçekleştirilmiş; bu çalişmanin bir bölümü olarak 600'e yakin bitki örneği toplanmiş ve 300'ü aşkin bitkinin köylülerce adlandirildiği ve çoğunun kullanildiği saptanmiştir. Bu çalişma, dar bir alandaki bitki kapasitesinin zenginliğini ve bitkilere ilişkin geleneksel bilginin derinliğini göstererek arkeologlara, arkeobotanikçilere, botanikçilere, farmakologlara, ekonomistlere ve belki yerel kalkinma projeleri hazirlayan planlamacilara önemli ipuçlari sunmaktadir.

This article is a preliminary case-study concerning the importance of flax/Linum and Eruca as oil plants in central Anatolia. Linseed oil (‘beziryaği’) was produced from both Linum and Eruca seeds, and this oil was used in Anatolian culinary culture, in addition to olive, sesame, cotton, poppy, sunflower, hazel, Cephalaria, safflower and hackberry oils. Linseed oil was also used in oil lamps, to oil wooden-wheeled carts and to rub on the skins of water-buffalo. Both linseed oil and flax seeds were widely used in folk medicine. The production of linseed oil may have started thousands of years ago in central Anatolia. Both plants are native to Anatolia, and flax seeds have been found at several Neolithic sites. The earliest historical documents concerning linseed oil mills (‘bezirhane’) are Ottoman tax records from 1500–1. Until the 1970s there were still several oil mills in the Aksaray area producing linseed oil during the winter. The residue was used as fodder for draft animals.

Detailed analysis of the traditional subsistence economy in a modern village in Central Anatolia, Turkey, was undertaken to aid interpretation of an archaeological site nearby. The modern village is Kizilkaya, in the province of Aksaray in the Melendiz Plain, one kilometer north of the prehistoric aceramic site of Asikli, served by the same catchment area. Kizilkaya and the surrounding villages are known to have been settled for at least 500 years, and many techniques employed before modernization are still in use or still accurately remembered. Traditional subsistence economy is defined here as a pre-market economy, in which people live basically on what they produce and collect in their own areas. It includes activities such as traditional farming, herding, gathering, hunting, fishing, and local barter. Documentation of plant gathering makes up the largest part of this study, as it is most relevant to subsistence in a prehistoric, early agricultural society. The importance of wild plants to a fully agricultural modern society has significant implications for archaeology. The large number of useful plants recorded as a result of my study--250 plant species in over 600 samples--indicates that the archaeobotanical remains represent only a fraction of potential plant use in the past, and our means for interpreting archaeobotanical remains is very limited if a local ethnobotanical study is not done in conjunction with the archaeological project. The role of plant gathering in a subsistence economy, scheduling with other economic activities, and its dietary role, as well as its importance in risk management strategies for rural populations are not well documented in Turkey. Studying plant gathering also highlights the contributions of women to the economy, and the survival of the group. Kizilkaya data provide an exceptional opportunity for comparison with archaeobotanical remains from Asikli, as well as those from many other Near Eastern sites. Other aspects of the traditional subsistence economy, such as animal husbandry, agriculture, and food preparation methods, also contribute valuable insights about prehistoric diet and subsistence.

Insomnia is a major global health issue, highlighting the need for treatments that are both effective and safe. Valerian extract, a traditional remedy for sleep problems, offers potential therapeutic options. This research examined the potential sleep-enhancing effects of VA (Valerian Pdr%2) in mice. The study evaluated sleep quality by comparing the impact of the VA extract against melatonin on brain activity, using electrocorticography (ECoG) to assess changes in brain waves. For this purpose, the study utilized two experimental models on BALB/c mice to explore the effects of caffeine-induced insomnia and pentobarbital-induced sleep. In the first model, 25 mice were assigned to five groups to test the effects of caffeine (caffeine, 7.5 mg/kg i.p) alone, caffeine with melatonin (2 mg/kg), or caffeine with different doses of valerian extract (100 or 300 mg/kg) given orally on brain activity, assessed via electrocorticography (ECoG) and further analyses on the receptor proteins and neurotransmitters. In the second model, a different set of 25 mice were divided into five groups to examine the impact of pentobarbital (42 mg/kg) alone, with melatonin, or with the valerian extract on sleep induction, observing the effects 45 min after administration. The study found that ECoG frequencies were lower in groups treated with melatonin and two doses of valerian extract (100 and 300 mg/kg), with 300 mg/kg showing the most significant effect in reducing frequencies compared to the caffeine control group, indicating enhanced sleep quality (p < 0.05). This was supported by increased levels of serotonin, melatonin, and dopamine and higher levels of certain brain receptors in the melatonin and valerian extract groups (p < 0.05). Modulatory efficacy for the apoptotic markers in the brain was also noted (p < 0.05). Additionally, melatonin and both doses of VA increased sleep duration and reduced sleep onset time compared to the pentobarbital control, which was particularly notable with high doses. In conclusion, the findings suggest that high doses (300 mg/kg) of valerian extract enhance both the quantity and quality of sleep through the GABAergic pathway and effectively increase sleep duration while reducing the time to fall asleep in a pentobarbital-induced sleep model in mice.