Direct dating reveals the early history of opium poppy in western Europe

Abstract

This paper aims to define the first chrono-cultural framework on the domestication and early diffusion of the opium poppy using small-sized botanical remains from archaeological sites, opening the way to directly date minute short-lived botanical samples. We produced the initial set of radiocarbon dates directly from the opium poppy remains of eleven Neolithic sites (5900-3500 cal BCE) in the central and western Mediterranean, northwestern temperate Europe, and the western Alps. When possible, we also dated the macrobotanical remains originating from the same sediment sample. In total, 22 samples were taken into account, including 12 dates directly obtained from opium poppy remains. The radiocarbon chronology ranges from 5622 to 4050 cal BCE. The results show that opium poppy is present from at least the middle of the sixth millennium in the Mediterranean, where it possibly grew naturally and was cultivated by pioneer Neolithic communities. Its dispersal outside of its native area was early, being found west of the Rhine in 5300-5200 cal BCE. It was introduced to the western Alps around 5000-4800 cal BCE, becoming widespread from the second half of the fifth millennium. This research evidences different rhythms in the introduction of opium poppy in western Europe.

Figure 1

(A1) Dataset of the Early Neolithic sites where opium poppy remains have been identified (Supplementary Information S1) with the locations of the earliest records in the Near East (orange circles), Mediterranean (blue circles), temperate Europe (purple circles), the western Alps (green circles), and current wild poppy populations (dotted line). The open access map was created with umap, an OpenStreetMap project (version 1.2.2), under ODbL 1.0 license. Contains credits: A. Salavert (AASPE, MNHN-CNRS), Map background credits: NASA 2016: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/fr/map/salavertetal_sr_fig12_460185. (A2) Number of Early Neolithic sites where the plant is identified by chronological ranges corresponding to the period before the arrival of the first European farmers (< 5900 BCE); to the beginning of the Early Neolithic in the Mediterranean and temperate Europe (5900–5300 BCE); to the second stage of the LBK (LBK II–V) and the beginning of the Early Neolithic in the western Alps until the end of the period in western Europe (5300–4750 BCE).; (B) Overview of the spatial and temporal framework for the diffusion of the “Neolithic crop package” from the Near East to western Europe and the two European pioneer Neolithic complexes. The main chronological points are in cal BCE. Contains credits: A. Salavert (AASPE, MNHN-CNRS), Map background credits: D. Dalet.

Figure 2

Location of the selected sites included in the dating program and chrono-cultural attributions based on radiocarbon dates indirectly performed on the opium poppy (absolute chronology) as well as artifacts (relative chronology). The chronological ranges are those of cultural facies. VSG: Villeneuve-St-Germain, LBK: Linearbandkeramik. The open access map was created with umap, an OpenStreetMap project (version 1.2.2), under ODbL 1.0 license. Contains credits: A. Salavert (AASPE, MNHN-CNRS), Map background credits: NASA 2016: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/fr/map/salavertetal_sr_fig12_460185.

Figure 3

Chronology of the opium poppy in western Europe. The dates were calibrated with OxCal 4.4. software based on the IntCal20 atmospheric curve^,. The asterisk corresponds to the dating performed directly on the opium poppy.