ABSTRACT

The process of neolithisation in the west Mediterranean whereby a farming economy progressively replaced one of hunting and gathering was complex and was due in part to the geographical diversity of the territory. The inadequacy of information about the process in this part of the Iberian Peninsula has no doubt exaggerated our present view of its complexity. This chapter discusses the main crops and confirms that pulses were being cultivated in the Iberian Peninsula as early as the cereals, albeit on a smaller scale. It suggested that their role in early Neolithic agriculture was secondary to that of the cereals. The evidence of domesticated plant, remains recorded in Catalonia is from the site called La Draga. The archaeological evidence suggests that many of the cereal grains were roasted in the fireplaces; triangular wooden structures, which were found next to the fireplaces, could have acted as small platforms for supporting the jars that contained the grain during the roasting process.