XXXe International Symposium of Antibes (France) in Archaeology and History, 22-24 October 2009
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I have just returned from a very interesting conference. The international Symposium of Antibes is an annual event in the spectacular setting of Juan-les-Pins. This year, the theme was archaeobotany. The title of the programme was: People and plants: landscape exploitation and vegetal resources management from Prehistoric times to present. The organisers were Claire Delhon, Isabelle Théry-Parisot and Stéphanie Thiébault. The venue was the Palais des Congrès de Juan-les-Pins which was very conveniently located near hotels, restaurants and beach.
The conference was divided into four sections: Diet and plant domestication; Plant uses and symbolic; Forest management: from hunter-gatherers to industrial societies (gestion de la forêt) and Human impact on biogeographical dynamics and landscapes.
Nearly all the papers were presented in French, even by those participants that were not from French origin. There was a wide variety of speakers, subjects and areas, from Argentinia through Greenland, but did not go much beyond the Near East.
The conference allowed for ample discussion after each lecture, and this was often a lively event. During the conference on Friday there was an exposition/demonstration by Stéphane Esclamanti ‘De la glu avec du gui’ about preparation of glue for the catching of small birds.
The papers and posters (including our own WODAN poster) covered a wide range of subjects. Not all of those were relevant to wood specialists of course. I would like to specifically mention the papers by Vincent Bernard (presented by Dominique Marguerie) about 7500 years of interactions between people, forest and woodlands on the coast of Normandy and Brittany, Linda Scott Cummings about the range of foods in the diet of Christians in the Nile Delta, Maï Bui-Thi about funeral practices especially flowers as seen in pollen, and Stéfanie Jacomet about 7500 year history around Basel, as gleaned from her impressive database.
A very new research topic was presented by Karen Hardy, about starch hidden in teeth deposits. Her lecture was very graphic and therefore received instant attention from all. Her methodology seems simple and elegant. It informs about a vital component of the human diet that is very elusive.
Cécile Brun used questionnaires to understand modern land-use in Romania at an altitude of 1000 m. This was very interesting because it showed how the different cultivation patterns influenced the local flora. Every phase was accompanied by a distinct weed flora (moderately diverse). Also, the preceding culture predestined which adventive flora developed.
Alexa Dufraisse presented a thorough study on Alnus in lake and river situations, especially in the alpine areas, and pointed to the differences between palynological , dendrological and historical records. She highlighted problems about the models used in PollandCal and the actual situation in Switzerland.
One of the interesting posters was from Anne Dithier. She argued for the use of bar diagrams instead of pie charts to present charcoal results. Anne also highlighted the ‘human factor’ in the wood story that is often missing in reports focusing on nature instead.
Another interesting poster was from Jean-Yves Dufour. He combines literature, historical sources and excavation to research an interesting feature in France. These are specifically planted thickets in arable fields. The thickets harbour small animals e.g. rabbits and hares that can be hunted. Dating is possible through potsherds which are ubiquitous in France. The fields are very recognisable in their setting and now also archaeological features, and there are literary references to them with clear descriptions, including which woody species have to be used.
There was ample time for discussion between and after lectures, and it was good to meet again with several charcoal specialists that also visited the Brussels conference last September.
