ABSTRACT
The timing and mode of the spread of crops westwards from the Fertile Crescent, into Europe has been the subject of considerable debate, the easterly movement of the Neolithic crop package has received much less attention. The 20th century can broadly be characterized as a period of data collection and methodological development in archaeobotany. The dataset discussed in this chapter is in part drawn from a new database of bioarchaeological evidence from Iraq. This database is just one example of a growing tendency in archaeobotany to compile and synthesise assemblages that are published in disparate locations and in different formats. The small number of samples from most of the sites is unlikely to reveal the full spectrum of plant use; more representative assemblages are likely to be recovered from thoroughly sampled sites than from those with only a few samples.
