In search of plants in the diet of Mesolithic-Neolithic communities in the Iron Gates

There are now several different plant assemblages originating from the Late Mesolithic, Mesolithic-Neolithic (transitional) and Early(/Middle) Neolithic layers of the sites in the Iron Gates area(c. 7400-5500 BC – Borić 2011). To a varied, but also very limited extent, they can be used to glean the availability of plant food sources and the possible components of plant-based human diets over these periods in the region. The botanical archives are, however, beset by problems such as the small size, unclear archaeological and chronological provenance, complex taphonomy and analyticalmethodological issues. This paper reviews the, so far available, evidence and highlights the associated problems delimiting the potential for integrating the datasets and the reconstruction of plant-based diets of the Iron Gates Mesolithic and Neolithic communities.