3.2.1. Fruit trees

21The only obviously cultivated fruit tree is the date palm (which, according to the botanical definition, is not a tree but a monocotyledon). Fragmented and whole charred date-palm seeds (‘stones’) are found everywhere in both excavation areas, supporting the existence of a palm grove in the area. Fragments of charred date-palm stipe (‘trunk’), petiole (leaf rachis), and lamina (leaflet) are frequently found among the charcoal assemblages (e.g. in Uf 076). Sample 036-1 contains several pieces of probable plaster with imprints of date-palm leaves visible on the surface. All these elements clearly indicate the cultivation of the date palm and its use as a food, fuel, and building material, as is always the case in the oases of the Arabian Peninsula (Bouchaud et al. 2012).

3.2.2. Cereals

22At least five different cereal species were identified. A first group corresponds to winter cereals, including two hulled cereals — barley (Hordeum vulgare) and emmer (Triticum turgidum subsp. dicoccon) — and one free-threshing cereal — durum wheat (or macaroni wheat, Triticum turgidum subsp. durum), that might also include rivet wheat (T. turgidum subsp. turgidum). These cereals have been domesticated in the Near East since the Neolithic period before spreading in the surrounding regions (Zohary et al. 2012: 39–46, 51–56). In the Levant, durum wheat gradually replaced emmer during the Bronze Age, whereas emmer seems to have been present in southern Arabia until the end of the first millennium BC and even later (Bouchaud et al. 2016). Preliminary results at al-Yamāma show that durum wheat is the most frequent cereal in the samples. Common wheat (Triticum aestivum subsp. aestivum) appears to be absent — it is observed in north-western Arabia (Bouchaud 2015) — whereas it is present in sites located in eastern and southern Arabia in antiquity and the Islamic period (Bouchaud et al. 2016). Wheat and barley cereals are generally winter crops, sown in the autumn and harvested in the spring or early summer.3

23The second cereal group corresponds to African species (subfamily Panicoideae). They contain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and other indeterminate taxa from the same subfamily (perhaps pearl millet, Pennisetum glaucum). We cannot rule out that some of these indeterminate Panicoideae seeds might correspond to wild grasses. The domestication process of the sorghum and pearl millet is still being debated, but it probably took place between the fourth and second millennium in subtropical Africa — pearl millet in western Africa and sorghum in eastern Africa (Haaland 1999; Van der Veen 2011: 100; Winchell et al. 2017). Their introduction in the Arabian Peninsula is unclear but we know that they were staple crops in the southern part in the medieval period (Bouchaud et al. 2016; Dabrowski et al. 2015: 420; Boivin & Fuller 2009). They were not cultivated at all in northern Arabia, probably because of their ecological requirement and photoperiod. Sorghum and pearl millet are summer crops, requiring sun and water during their growing season, which occurs in the summer.

24Whereas barley and wheat are present in both excavation areas — with a predominance of wheat remains — sorghum and other Panicoideae are only attested in K17 (Sounding 4) (Uf 413 and 425, both corresponding to the late Islamic period).

25By-products remains — straw and chaff — are sporadically found in the thinnest fractions. Their presence probably corresponds to their use as fuel (and probably fodder, see below) after the processing stage of cereal crops — threshing, winnowing, husking (Van der Veen 1999) — taking place near or within the city.

3.2.3. Textile/oil plants

26At least two samples of K17 (Sounding 4), belonging to the late Islamic period, contain remains of cotton (Gossypium sp.) in the form of whole and fragmented seeds and seed coats. One complete seed in Uf 413 still had tiny fibres (linters) sticking to the seed coat. Cotton is a subtropical plant, which can correspond to two species, one domesticated in India (Gossypium arboreum) and the other in Africa (G. herbaceum). To date, archaeobotanical, textile, and textual evidence shows that cotton (either the Indian or African species) was introduced in Arabia in antiquity (end of the first century AD in north-western Arabia) (Bouchaud 2015; Bouchaud et al. 2011). The low quantity of cotton seeds found in al-Yamāma does not allow us to confirm the production of this plant in the modern city. Indeed, cotton seeds could have travelled inside imported raw cotton balls, as has been shown by archaeological examples in the eastern Egyptian desert (Bouchaud et al. 2011: 409). Due to the plant’s history in Arabia, however, the hypothesis of local production is worth considering. In this case, seeds could have been directly discarded after the ginning process (separation of the fibres from the seeds).

3.2.4. Absence of pulses

27Only one hypothetic chickpea seed (cf. Cicer arietinum) was found in K17 (Sounding 4) (hearth from floor F. 419). Pulses are generally not very well represented in archaeological sites where only charred material is preserved, notably because the agricultural and culinary processes of these plants do not involve the use of fire (or at least less than for cereals or other crops). Nevertheless, lentils (Lens culinaris) are generally found in Arabian oases and, to a lesser extent, peas (Pisum sativum), common vetch (Vicia sativa), and bitter vetch (Vicia ervilia) (Boivin & Fuller 2009; Bouchaud 2013). It is therefore curious that these species are seemingly absent at al-Yamāma.

3.2.5. Wild plants

28Wild plants can be separated into two groups. The first corresponds to weeds growing in anthropogenic habitats — particularly in disturbed ground — such as asphodels (Asphodelus sp.) and smallflower mallow (Malva cf. parviflora, fig. 7.4), and some Boraginaceae. The others are typical desert plants, including one tree plant (Acacia sp.), shrubs (Amaranthaceae e.g. Haloxylon persicum, Zilla spinosa, fig. 7.4) and herbaceous species (Aizoon cf. canariense, colocynth — Citrullus colocynthis; wild medick — Medicago cf. arabica, grasses). They give an indication of the ecological state of the site, which seems to be very similar to the present-day one. Several reasons explain their presence in a charred state in archaeological layers. Some are likely to have been brought ‘accidentally’ with the wood used for fuel (notably the woody species), others could have been carried by the wind before being caught in the fireplaces when they were in use. Finally, all of these seeds could have been eaten by animals, passed through the digestive system, and preserved in the dung used as fuel. Indeed, charred camel dung and indeterminate dung fragments were found in many archaeological layers (tables 7.3–7.5). Ethnographic and archaeobotanical research shows that seeds consumed by animals are likely to have been preserved by charring in archaeological sites due to the regular use of dung mixed with others elements (straw, olive stones, etc.) as fuel, notably in semi-arid and arid habitats (Anderson & Ertug-Yaras 1998; Miller 1984).

3.3.1. Area K17, Sounding 4, the residential area (table 7.4)

29Uf 413 is very heterogeneous in terms of sediment nature and colour (from sandy to ashy sediment, from white to dark colour), plant richness, and diversity. The highest density of plant (and bone) remains seems to be located in the eastern part (south and north), corresponding to the ashiest part of the layer. The samples from the grid pattern in the western part of the layer (squares A, B, C, E, F) are quite poor in plant residues. The large volume of burnt deposit and the presence in it of a mixture of cultivated and wild seeds, fruits, charcoal, dung, charred and non-charred bones, and some pottery, probably indicates several domestic rubbish dumps accumulating through time. The only radiocarbon date on Uf 413 was analysed as too recent — that is, too recent to be ascribed a chronological range taking into account the calibration plateau effect of the last three centuries. Nevertheless, a glass bangle, a porcelain vessel, glazed pottery, and the ¹⁴C analysis of a contemporary layer (Uf 420: cal AD 1670–1943) date the occupation of the building to the late seventeenth–eighteenth century. The presence of large pieces of charcoal in some parts of the layer (notably in the eastern part) might indicate the burning of decayed architectural elements (e.g. date-palm stipe used as beams).

3.3.2. Area N6, the mosque (table 7.5)

30Very few seed or fruit remains were present inside the mosque, as is common in sacred spaces. What is more surprising is the almost total absence of seeds and fruits within and around the tannūr (St. 218 in room R. 222) in the dwelling under the mosque (sample nos. 138, 148-1, 148-2, 148-3, 149-1, 149-2, 149-3). Some seeds (date stones, one hard wheat grain, one barley grain, and wild plants) were found. The majority of the charred plant remains correspond to charcoal fragments, probably resulting from their utilization as fuel. Dung is also present, suggesting that it was also used as fuel. The use of dung as a fuel perhaps explains the presence of the seeds (see above). This assemblage is different from the common archaeobotanical assemblage generally associated with domestic ovens where a mixture of fuel, dung, and a large amount of food plant (as well as bone) residues (Bouchaud 2011: 248; Reddy 1998) are found. The almost total absence of food plants may suggest a reuse of this oven for non-alimentary purposes. Nevertheless, the two elements of complete barley and wheat grains, and the bones and fish remains found inside the oven would indicate the remains of limited cooking activities.