Proposal for the systematic description and taphonomic study of carbonized cereal grain assemblages. A case study of an early Neolithic funerary context in the Cave of Can Sadurní (Begues, Barcelona province, Spain)

In this paper we propose a methodological systematisation for the qualitative and quantitative characters and numerical description of carbonised cereal remains (basically caryopses) found at archaeological sites. The aim of this methodology is to study such remains after evaluating the significance of taphonomic processes, such as the degree of fragmentation, cause of fragmentation, overrepresentation of certain taxa, processes of erosion, transport and deposition, and combustion intensity. Attention is also paid to the fragmentation of the caryopses prior to charring, and a new method is presented for the calculation of the minimum numbers of individuals (MNI) of cereal caryopses. This methodology requires a seed-by-seed description in order to obtain fully quantified data of taphonomic importance, which is therefore time consuming, but at the same time achieves precise information of great value for the evaluation of the assemblage. Our case study has been the remains found in Layer 18 at the archaeological cave site of Can Sadurní (Begues, Barcelona province, Spain), one of the most important early Neolithic cereal assemblages on the Iberian Peninsula.