Botanical aspects of the agricultural economy at Uppåkra and surrounding settlements

The comprehensive prehistoric settlement Uppåkra, lasting over a millennium,
raises questions on how food supplies and local communities were agricultu­
rally organized. Recent investigations of archaeobotanical remains from the
regional center Uppåkra and several surrounding settlements have contribu­
ted to new aspects of their agricultural relations. New patterns in consump­
tion show that through its development of garden cultivation, Uppåkra was
a center of innovation in the Scanian Iron Age society also in respect to plant
produce. Consumption of staple crop produce can, on the contrary, be seen
as an adaptation to the local agricultural production. Whether or not its role
as a regional center contributed to agricultural changes is discussed in terms
of production and consumption of cultivated plants. Similarly, whether or
not Uppåkra’s need of agrarian products influenced the scope and focus of
plant cultivation in the hinterland is also discussed, from both a local and
regional perspective.