Veget Hist Archaeobot (2005) 14:562–570
DOI 10.1007/s00334-005-0060-4
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Andreas G. Heiss · Klaus Oeggl
The oldest evidence of Nigella damascena L. (Ranunculaceae)
and its possible introduction to central Europe
Received: 15 September 2004 / Accepted: 22 December 2004 / Published online: 8 September 2005
Springer-Verlag 2005
Abstract After the beginning of metal processing at the
transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age, further
knowledge of ore mining and smelting had spread from
the Near East to central Europe. In the copper ore deposits
of Schwaz, in the central part of the Alps, the oldest traces
of copper mining derive from the early to middle Bronze
Ages. Investigation of a middle to late Bronze Age
(1410–920 cal B.C.) slag-washing site in the area revealed
a carbonised seed of Nigella damascena (Ranunculaceae)
(love-in-a-mist) together with individual other food
plants. The plant remains had become incorporated into
the slag sediments by chance and had been preserved in
an excellent state due to toxic copper salts contained in
the soil. Nigella damascena, like N. sativa (black cumin),
is traditionally used as a condiment and healing herb in
southern Europe and the Near East, but has never grown
in the wild in central Europe. Until now, there has been no
evidence of prehistoric large-scale cultivation of N.
damascena in central Europe. This leads to two possible
conclusions: the find may either originate from an exchange of goods with the cultures in the Mediterranean
during the Bronze Age, or indicate an introduction of the
plant by an immigrant population from that area. Implicating the latter alternative together with the archaeological context of the ore processing site suggests that
Nigella damascena had been introduced to the Alps by
foreign miners in the course of ore exploitation during the
middle to late Bronze Age.
Keywords Bronze Age · Nigella damascena · Copper ore
mining · Alps
A. G. Heiss ()) · K. Oeggl
University of Innsbruck, Institute of Botany,
Sternwartestrasse 15, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
e-mail: andreas.heiss@uibk.ac.at
Introduction: Investigating Bronze Age metallurgical
history in the eastern Alps
The first steps in metal processing were taken in Asia
Minor during the Neolithic. As of the 9th/8th millennium
B.C. solid gold and copper were tempered into objects of
ritual and status purposes. Subsequent improvements of
metallurgical techniques are reported from the same region: mining and smelting of copper ore, casting solid
copper, and creating bronze alloys (Pernicka 1990;
Strahm 1994).
The spread of metallurgical knowledge throughout
Europe, originating from the high cultures in the Aegean
and the Near East (Pernicka 1990; Strahm 1994), is
documented as of the 5th millennium B.C. Prospectors are
believed to have travelled the lands in search of profitable
ore deposits, and immigrants brought their metallurgical
skills with them (Krause 2004). During the transition from
the late Neolithic (the Chalcolithic, or Copper Age) to the
Bronze Age the use of the new working material increased greatly, together with the appearance of new and
more elaborate techniques of extracting and processing
copper.
Copper ore deposits of prime importance are located in
the central part of the Alps, as in the areas of Schwaz
(Tyrol, Austria) and Mitterberg (Salzburg, Austria). The
deposits around Schwaz are well-known for their predominance of tetrahedrite-tennantite type ores (Fahlerz,
grey copper ore). While the use of copper in the eastern
Alps is first documented from the beginning of the 4th
millennium B.C. (Matuschik 1997), the oldest evidence of
copper extraction from copper ore dates to the early to the
middle Bronze Age, as for the Schwaz deposits (Goldenberg 1998, 2001).
Prehistoric large-scale cultural and mercantile relations
between the eastern Mediterranean and central Europe are
already well documented by artefact finds. Della Casa and
Primas (1998), for instance, have illustrated the trade
between the Aegean and the eastern Adriatic in the period
between 2800 and 2700 B.C. Giardino (1998) has studied
the role of the Italian area as part of metal trade routes
563
between the Aegean and the rest of Europe: in the gulf of
Naples the beginning of trade relations with the Aegean
region was dated to Bronze Age B (1700–1500 B.C.).
In the Alps, however, direct evidence for cultural and
trade bonds to the Aegean region during Bronze Age has
only rarely been found: first of all, the finding of several
gold objects in the Alpine foothills near Bernstorf (Bavaria, Germany) is to be mentioned. Archaeological and
metallurgical analyses of the discovered objects, among
them a large crown-like diadem and a golden belt, have
shown that this jewellery had been cast in the Aegean
region. Moreover, their supposed ritual purpose refers
unambiguously to cultures of the eastern Mediterranean
(Gebhard 1999). For the area near Schwaz, finds of imported prestige weapons serve as another fine example of
Bronze Age large-scale trade: three one-piece handle
daggers (“Vollgriffdolche”) have been discovered up to
now in the lower Inntal. One of them is of nětice origin,
but had been forged mimicking archetypes from Italy
(Schwenzer 2004).
The traces of prehistoric mining are still visible everywhere on the south bank of the lower Inntal.
Palaeoethnobotanical investigation of a slag-washing site
near Schwaz has now supplied plant material that proved
an unexpected insight into Bronze Age mining history.
Fig. 1 Location of the site in Tyrol (Skamen 2002 onwards,
modified; small map from Spiess 2002, modified)
Materials and methods
The site
In the years 1997 and 2000 excavations were carried out in the low
mountain ranges of the Inntal near Schwaz in Tyrol, Austria
(Fig. 1). Archaeological investigation of a small southern tributary
valley, the Maukengraben, revealed a huge slag-dump beneath the
humus of a Picea abies (spruce) stand at about 900 m a.s.l. The
dimensions of the slag-dump were estimated to an area of approximately 1000 m2, its thickness reaching from about 50 cm up to
1 m.
Several samples of wood and charcoal were taken from the
sediments and sent to the VERA (Vienna Environmental Research
Accelerator) laboratory at the Institute for Isotope Research and
Nuclear Physics of the University of Vienna for radiocarbon dating.
The results (Table 1) gave evidence that the slag heap derived from
a middle to late Bronze Age (1410–920 B.C.) slag-washing site
where miners had post-processed crude ore.
The first excavation campaign in 1997 revealed a wooden
trough embedded in the slag layers (Fig. 2). Its walls consisted of
wooden planks in an extraordinarily good state of preservation. The
two lateral planks were later identified as Larix decidua (larch), but
the front plank was not analysed. The bottom of the supposed
flotation device consisted of a massive clay layer obviously thick
Fig. 2 The excavation of Mauken A, with the partly uncovered
wooden trough (photo: G. Goldenberg). The photograph shows
transect 5a during 1997 campaign. Letters indicate the different
layers (their limits highlighted): a forest soil, b slag dump, c basal
clay layer
Table 1 Results of the radiocarbon dating. Program used for calibration: OXCAL (Bronk Ramsey 1994) and VERA 0591
Sample no
Mauk
Mauk
Mauk
Mauk
Mauk
A
A
A
A
A
38
40
43
44
46
Lab no
(VERA-1325)
(VERA-1326)
(VERA-1327)
(VERA-1328)
(VERA-1329)
Material
charcoal
wood
charcoal
charcoal
charcoal
Method
AMS
AMS
AMS
AMS
AMS
d13C
26.2€1.3
24.7€1.3
26.7€1.3
25.9€1.3
25.1€1.4
14
C age
2860€35
2890€45
3050€40
3000€40
2885€40
Calibrated Age
B.P
B.P
B.P
B.P
B.P
1 s (68.26%)
2 s (95.44%)
1110–930 B.C
1190–1000 B.C
1390–1260 B.C
1370–1130 B.C
1190–1000 B.C
1190–920 B.C
1260–920 B.C
1410–1130 B.C
1390–1090 B.C
1220–920 B.C
564
Table 2 Important plant remains from Mauken A
Preservation
Carbonised
Useful plants
Nigella damascena L. (seed)
x
Panicum miliaceum L. (caryopsis)
x
Rubus fruticosus agg. (pyrene)
Rubus idaeus L. (pyrenes)
Rubus sp. (pyrenes)
Sambucus nigra L. (pyrenes)
Herbaceous indicators of disturbance, and woody pioneer species
Betula sp. (charcoal fragments)
Daucus carota L. (schizocarp halves)
Moehringia trinervia (L.) Clairv. (seed)
Salix caprea L. (leaf)
Stellaria media agg. (seeds)
Urtica dioica L. (nutlets)
Plants of coniferous woods and related heathland*
Larix decidua Miller (total finds)
L. decidua (wooden trough planks)
L. decidua (charcoal fragments)
x
Picea abies (L.) Karsten (total finds)
P. abies (twig fragments)
P. abies (bark fragments)
P. abies (needles)
P. abies (bud)
cf. Picea abies (total finds)
cf. P. abies (wood fragments)
cf. P. abies (charcoal fragments)
x
Pinus sp. (charcoal fragments)
Plants of broad-leaved woods and related brushwood*
Abies alba Miller (total finds)
A. alba (wood fragments)
A. alba (charcoal fragments)
x
A. alba (twig fragments)
A. alba (needles)
A. alba (seeds)
Fagus sylvatica L. (total finds)
Fagus sylvatica (wood fragments)
Fagus sylvatica (charcoal fragments)
x
Fagus sylvatica (twig fragment)
Fagus sylvatica (leaves)
Fagus sylvatica (buds)
Fagus sylvatica (bud scales)
Lonicera xylosteum L. (seed)
Taxus baccata L. (total finds)
T. baccata (wood fragments)
T. baccata (needle)
Total finds
Uncarbonised
Sum
Freq
x
x
x
x
1
1
1
28
6
187
1
1
1
3
2
9
x
x
x
x
x
x
11
35
1
1
2
294
1
2
1
1
2
3
43
3
40
808
31
38
738
1
581
223
358
12
5
2
3
11
6
3
11
1
9
2
9
2
1657
194
947
6
506
4
271
23
229
1
14
2
2
1
7
6
1
10
2
9
1
10
1
8
2
8
1
3
2
1
1
2
1
1
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
* Phytosociological class groups according to Ellenberg (1996). Freq. = Frequency
enough to keep the water inside. From behind the southern plank,
shreds of rough cloth were retrieved—perhaps the remnants of a
sieve-like device for fractioning the slag grains.
According to the excavation director, G. Goldenberg, the area
with the wooden trough had most probably been covered by the
sediments of a second slag washing device, situated further uphill,
which explains why the trough itself was embedded within the slag.
This second site has not been located yet.
Sampling and sample processing
The material was obtained by purposively sampling the slag layers
inside the trough, and in its perimeter, and the basal clay layers
were also sampled. Twelve soil samples and seven single macro
remains were retrieved from the slag dump, making a total of 21.5 l
(21.1 kg) of material. The samples contained both carbonised and
uncarbonised plant remains. During sample-taking we were already
able to judge the exceptionally good state of preservation of the
uncarbonised macro remains, when several intact leaves and large
leaf fragments of Fagus sylvatica (beech) in perfect condition became visible in the slag material. The slag’s high content of toxic
heavy metal compounds (salts of copper, antimony, and arsenic, for
instance) had added anti-microbial properties to the soil layers. Due
to direct proximity of the site to a small brook, the Maukenbach, the
slag sediments were waterlogged. Both conditions had caused a
greatly slowed down decomposition of uncarbonised plant macro
remains.
All samples were immediately enclosed in airtight polyethylene
bags and stored at +5C until analysis. The macro remains were
extracted using the flotation method. Staggered sieves at mesh sizes
of 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2 mm were used for separation by particle size.
Sub-sampling was done according to standard methods (Jacomet
and Kreuz 1999) depending on the amount of plant material. Uncarbonised macro remains were preserved using Strasburger’s
preserving agent (Gerlach 1969) consisting of equal amounts of
565
distilled water, 96% ethanol, and glycerine. A small amount of
phenol was added (0.4 - 0.6% by weight), serving as a fungicide.
Results
Remains of wild and cultivated plants were extracted
from the samples (Table 2). The species spectra in the soil
samples did not give any evidence of an intentional plant
deposit (as for example in refuse or storage pits) but indicated a rather “natural” sedimentation of plant remains
from the surrounding vegetation. The wood and charcoal
findings, as distinct remains of human activity, did not
indicate a preference of the miners for certain woody taxa.
For this reason the identified wild plants were used to
characterise the site’s surrounding vegetation during the
middle and late Bronze Age (Heiss 2001). Parts of the
area had been covered by a zonal climax forest dominated
by Picea abies (spruce), Abies alba (fir), and Fagus sylvatica (beech), with Pinus sp. (pine) and Larix decidua
(larch) occurring sporadically. The presence of treeless
patches was indicated in the samples by the presence of
plants such as Urtica dioica (stinging nettle) and Sambucus nigra (elder), and the woody pioneer taxa Betula
sp. (birch) and Salix sp. (willow).
Cultivated plants were represented by a carbonised
caryopsis of Panicum miliaceum (common millet).
Though a cereal of only minor importance, the cultivation
of common millet in the eastern Alpine region during the
Bronze Age is documented by archaeological evidence
(Oeggl 1992; Swidrak and Oeggl 1998). Lacking gluten
protein and thus unsuitable for baking bread, P. miliaceum was usually consumed as millet gruel.
Among the plant remains a carbonised seed of Nigella
damascena (love-in-a-mist) was also found (Fig. 3). It
was identified by its characteristic features: a triangularovate seed with tubercled surface, three longitudinal and
several transverse ridges (crests) forming a conspicuous
reticulum. Besides standard literature, reference material
from several Nigella species was used for validating the
identification (Fig. 4). However, according to A. Weber
(pers. comm.) differentiation between the seeds of N.
damascena and N. elata, which are both in the subsection
Erobathos (see section on taxonomy and Table 3), is only
possible by their surface structure: N. damascena is
characterised by the presence of a small, nipple-like elevation on each of the faces’ convex cells (Fig. 3c).
General information on the genus Nigella,
and on N. damascena in particular
Etymology
The genus Nigella L. (nigella, fennel flower) was named
after its seeds which, as a characteristic, are black in most
Nigella species. The Latin term nigellus is diminutive of
niger, meaning ‘black’ (Hegi 1975). The ancient Greek
name melánqon (melanthion, ‘black [seeded] flower’) for
Fig. 3 The seed of N. damascena from Mauken A. a ventral view,
b lateral view, c detail of surface structure
Nigella, allegedly for N. sativa, derives from the same
attribute (Aufmesser 2002).
The species epithet of Nigella damascena is named
after the Syrian capital Damascus, referring to the plant’s
eastern Mediterranean origin. Common names of N.
damascena allude either to this geographical context, to
the plant’s use as a condiment, or to its morphology (see
below).
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Table 3 Overview of the Nigella taxa
Taxon names
Sect. Garidella (L.) Spenn
N. nigellastrum (L.) Willk
N. unguicularis (Lam.) Spenn
Sect. Komaroffia (O. Ktze.) Brand
Nigella integrifolia Regel
Sect. Nigella L
Subsect. Erobathos (DC.) Zoh
N. damascena L.
N. elata Boiss.
Subsect. Nigellaria (DC.) Terracc
N. arvensis L.
var. anatolica Zoh
var. arvensis
var. assyriaca (Boiss.) Zoh
var. beershevensis Zoh
var. glauca (Schkuhr) Boiss
var.
var.
var.
var.
var.
var.
var.
glaucescens Guss
involucrata Boiss
iranica (Zoh.)
longicornis (Zoh.) Townsend
microcarpa Boiss
multicaulis Zoh
negevensis Zoh
var. palaestina (Zoh.) Zoh. & Feinbr
var. simplicifolia Zoh
var.mutica Bornm
N. fumariifolia Kotschy
N. hispanica L.
var. hispanica
var. intermedia Coss
var. parviflora Coss
N. sativa L.
var. hispidula Boiss
var. sativa
N. segetalis Marsch. Bieb.
var. armena (Stev.) Boiss
var. segetalis
N. stellaris Boiss
Subsect. Nigellastrum (DC.) Zoh
N. ciliaris DC
N. orientalis L.
N. oxypetala Boiss.
Important synonyms
Distribution
Garidella nigellastrum L.
Garidella unguicularis Lam.
N. Medit., W. Irano-Turanian
E. Medit
Komaroffia diversifolia O. Ktze
Irano-Turanian
Erobathos coarctatus (Gmel.) Spach
N. bithynica Azn
Medit.; cultivated
N.E. Medit
N. arvensis subsp. arvensis sensu Fl. Europ.
N. deserti Boiss
N. carpatha Strid, N. degenii Vierh.,
N. doerfleri Vierh.
N. divaricata Moris
N. arvensis subsp. aristata (Sm.) Nyman
N. assyriaca var. longicornis Zoh.
N. taubertii Brand
N. deserti var. latilabris Zoh
N. arvensis subsp. negevensis (Zoh.)
W.Greuter & Burdet
N. divaricata var. palaestina Zoh.
N. arvensis var. submutica Bornm.
W. Irano-Turanian
N. Medit. - Pontic - central European
W. Irano-Turanian
Saharo-Arabian
E. Medit., W. Irano-Turanian
W. Medit
E. Medit
W. Irano-Turanian
W. Irano-Turanian
E. Medit
Medit. - Saharo-Arabian
Saharo-Arabian
E. Medit
W. Irano-Turanian
E. Medit
N.E. Medit
N. amoena Salisb.
N. papillosa subsp. atlantica (Murb.)
Amich ex G. Lpez
N. gallica Jord
N.W. Medit
S.W. Medit
N. truncata Viv
N. indica Roxb
N. verrucosa C. Koch
N. bicolor Boiss
N. cilicica Boiss. et Bal. in Boiss
N.E. Medit.; cultivated
widely cultivated
N.E. Medit. - W. Irano-Turanian
W. Irano-Turanian
W. Irano-Turanian
N.E. Medit
N. oxypetala subsp. ciliaris Terracc.
Nigellastrum flavum Moench
N. lancifolia Hub.-Mor., N. latisecta P.H.Davis
S.E. Medit.
N.E. Medit., W. Irano-Turanian
N.E. Medit., W. Irano-Turanian
N.W. Medit
Taxon names in bold script are accepted sensu Flora Europaea (Tutin et al. 1993). Data on taxonomy and distribution according to Zohary
(1983). Medit. = Mediterranean
Morphology
Nigella (s.l.) species are characterised by the following
features: all are annual plants with pinnatisect (rarely
simple) leaves, their segments more or less linear. The
hermaphrodite flowers are pentamerous and tetracyclic
with conspicuous white to bluish or yellowish sepals persisting for a time on the ripening fruit. The nectariferous
petals (honey leaves) are of reduced size, and of characteristic shape: each consists of a lower petaloid, bifid lip
secreting nectar and an upper scale-like lip acting as a
protective “lid” (Fig. 5b). The five carpels are partly united
forming aggregate follicles (Hegi 1975; Zohary 1983).
Slightly different morphological features can be recognised in Nigella subsection Erobathos, containing the
two species N. damascena and N. elata. The number of
carpels is 10, and they are entirely fused into a capsule
(Fig. 5c, d; Hegi 1975; Tutin et al. 1993). Another typical
feature is the involucre of finely dissected leaves enclosing the inflorescence. Hence originated some of the
common names of N. damascena, such as ‘love-in-amist’, or ‘devil-in-the-bush’.
Taxonomy
The presence of the characteristic honey leaves mentioned above differentiates, among other things, the subtribe Nigellinae from the other Ranunculaceae. The
Nigellinae were traditionally placed within the subfamily
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Fig. 4 Reference seeds of some
Nigella species (all in lateral
view). a N. arvensis L., b N.
damascena L., c N. hispanica
L., d N. integrifolia Regel, e N.
nigellastrum (L.) Willk., f N.
sativa L., g N. orientalis L
and G. nigellastrum L.) and monotypic Komaroffia (K.
diversifolia Ktze).
Illustrating Nigella‘s sub-generic taxonomy is, however, somewhat more intricate. Differing taxonomic approaches have resulted in an assemblage of many synonyms, some of them ambiguous. Linnaeus, when he first
described this rather small genus, recorded six species
(Linnaeus 1753, cited by Zohary 1983). Referring to
Zohary (1983), the number of species names published up
to now in the genus Nigella is at least 80 (!).
– According to the Flora Europaea (Tutin et al. 1993), 14
native European Nigella species including six subspecies are differentiated today.
– Strid (1970, cited by Zohary 1983) investigated many
populations of the extremely polymorphic N. arvensis
L. in the eastern Mediterranean, and split the taxon
into several separate species.
– Zohary (1983) described 14 species. But in contrast to
the Flora Europaea he “lumped” all three Nigellinae
genera into the genus Nigella at the rank of sections
and also included some non-European taxa in his work.
Furthermore, many species and all of the subspecies
were reduced to the rank of varieties. The current work
is based on Zohary’s taxonomic point of view.
Fig. 5 Line drawing of Nigella damascena L. (Pabst 1887, 1889;
modified). a sepal, b petal (honey leaf), c, d capsule, e seeds
Helleboroideae, tribe Caltheae (Hegi 1975). However,
modern multidisciplinary approaches to Ranunculaceae
taxonomy suggest that Nigella and its subtribe are to be
placed within the subfamily Ranunculoideae, as done by
the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG, Stevens 2001
onwards) and by Frohne and Jensen (1998).
Apart from Nigella, the subtribe Nigellinae contains
two other genera: Garidella (with G. unguicularis Lam.
Table 3 gives an overview of the Nigella taxa treated by
Zohary (1983), providing their geographical distribution
and their most important synonyms (Tutin et al. 1993;
Hooker and Jackson 1893 et seq.).
Ecology and distribution
All Nigella species are short-lived annuals, and are generally to be found in summer annual vegetation of semi-
568
arid areas. They frequently occur on disturbed soils. The
whole subtribe Nigellinae (Nigella s.l.), in its native distribution, is limited to the meridional and southern temperate zones of Eurasia and northern Africa, particularly
in the eastern Mediterranean and Near East. Hence this
region is believed to be the taxon’s centre of diversity
(Strid 1970, cited by Zohary 1983; Kstner et al. 2001).
Most of the species can be found between the western
Mediterranean-continental areas (Iberian Peninsula) and
the Irano-Turanian zone (Turkey, Syria, and Israel). Only
the following Nigella taxa occur outside of Europe:
– N. glandulifera Freyn: China
– N. media Pakh.: Central Asia
– N. integrifolia Regel, syn. Komaroffia diversifolia
Ktze.: Irano-Turanian zone to central Asia
– N. stellaris Boiss.: Syria
– N. arvensis s.l.: Morocco to Near East; archaeophyte
(introduced by 15th century) in Europe (Kstner et al.
2001).
Although being the most dispersed group within the genus, N. arvensis (s.l.) does not occur on the Iberian
Peninsula. However, it is the only Nigella taxon growing
wild in central Europe.
N. damascena, initially a plant with an eastern
Mediterranean distribution, is today a common ruderal
plant in many parts of the Mediterranean. Outside this
area, this species may only form ephemeral populations
after escaping from cultivation. Just like N. sativa, N.
damascena has been introduced to central Europe.
Though neither species is to be found there in the wild
(Tutin et al. 1993), both provide satisfying crop yields
when cultivated in the area, as shown by modern experiments conducted in Thringen, Germany (Biertmpfel et
al. 2001).
Prehistoric, historical, and present cultivation and use
The time when Nigella damascena was introduced to
central Europe is unknown. Until now no archaeological
data at all has been available on that species (Kroll 2004,
pers. comm.). The seed from the site near Schwaz is actually the oldest archaeological evidence of N. damascena
in central Europe so far.
The evaluation of historical documents on plant cultivation and utilisation requires a high degree of caution.
Due to inaccurate or (more commonly) completely lacking morphological descriptions it is often hard to identify
the genera mentioned by antique and medieval authors.
Of the ancient Greek authors, Theophrastos does not
give any account about Nigella in his “Enquiry into
Plants” from the 4th century B.C. (Hort 1916). In Hippocrates the plant melanthion (see section on etymology)
is recommended for a small number of medical uses as,
for instance, to promote pregnancy (Fuchs 1895–1900).
In the 1st century A.D., Pliny the Elder mentions a
plant called git in his “Natural History” (books XVII,
XIX, XX; Von Jan 1857, 1859). He accredits various
healing properties to the seeds of that plant which today is
commonly interpreted as Nigella sativa. He recommends
it as a digestive amarum, as an ingredient of antidotes
curing snake bites and scorpion stings, as a fumigant for
driving away snakes, and also as a condiment in bread.
Pliny’s contemporary Dioscorides illustrates similar
uses of git, adding those of an emmenagogue, galactagogue, vermifuge, and disinfectant (Aufmesser 2002). It
should however be mentioned that he warns against
possibly fatal effects of an overdose of git. Consequently
it should be considered that Dioscorides might have
confused Nigella with a poisonous plant: indeed, it is
commonly accepted today that in classical and medieval
literature Nigella (and N. sativa in particular) has often
been confused with corn cockle, Agrostemma githago
(Caryophyllaceae). Though quite dissimilar in growth
habit and flowers, this once very common crop weed
shares Nigella‘s characteristic of black seeds. This has
also caused it share the same name in history. The species
epithet of A. githago refers to this ancient connexion:
“(seeds) resembling git(h)”, that is Nigella (Flckiger
1871).
Medieval documents on useful plants and healing
herbs unfortunately challenge the reader with the same
inaccuracies:
– Albertus Magnus mentions a plant named nigella, but
is obviously writing about corn cockle (Flckiger
1871; Fischer-Benzon 1894).
– In the 9th century A.D. the famous decree “Capitulare
de villis vel curtis imperialibus” by Charlemagne, an
assemblage of rules and guidelines for agriculture, lists
git among desirable garden herbs (Fischer-Benzon
1894). No description of the plant is added.
– In her “Physica”, well-known 12th century abbess
Hildegard von Bingen refers to the healing herb (githerum) ratden and warns of harmful effects when
eaten (Riethe 1989). The translator interprets that plant
as being either Nigella sativa or Lolium temulentum L.
(darnel ryegrass).
Yet in the Renaissance, Fuchs (1543) clearly differentiates and describes the Nigella species known at that time.
He assigns the same healing properties to N. damascena
(“schwartz coriander”) as to the other species he mentions
(N. arvensis, N. sativa). He recommends Nigella seeds for
chiefly the same uses as Dioscorides and Pliny the Elder
did, furthermore against ulcers, various pains, pulmonary
diseases, and as a carminative agent. Nota bene that
Fuchs, too, warns of fatal overdoses.
Today N. damascena and N. sativa seeds are widely
used in folk medicine in Arabian countries from Morocco
to Pakistan, as well as in southern Europe. N. sativa is
regarded a panacea (universal remedy) in Islamic folk
medicine and used for mostly the same purposes as passed
down from Pliny and Dioscorides (Ali and Blunden
2003). N. damascena seeds are used for example in Sicilian folk medicine as an emmenagogue and diuretic
569
(Ballero and Fresu 1993). Modern analyses show oestrogenic activity (Agradi et al. 2002) and analgesic properties (Bekemeier et al. 1967). Apart from medical uses,
Nigella seeds are still used as spices today. Both N. sativa
and N. damascena are used in bread and cheese, while N.
damascena also serves as a condiment in sweets (D’Antuono et al. 2002). N. damascena also has some horticultural importance as it is cultivated in many varieties as
an ornamental plant.
Discussion and conclusions
The Nigella damascena seed that has been retrieved from
the Bronze Age slag-washing site near Schwaz is definitely a remarkable find. As far as we currently know
about the history of natural distribution of N. damascena,
it can be assumed that the plant had been imported to the
area by humans. Considering the archaeological context
of an ore processing site, the seed had obviously been
brought to its place of discovery by someone involved in
mining, ore processing, or metal trade.
However, we cannot reliably assign any ethnobotanical
relevance to the Nigella seed. Due to poor documentation
of historical use of N. damascena as a spice and as a
remedy, many questions are left unanswered. The seed
may have been part of a Bronze Age miner’s diet,
flavouring his millet gruel. Only the single millet caryopsis retrieved from the same place supports this theory.
The plant may also have been an ephemeral ruderal plant
in the area of the Inntal, imported from the south together
with agricultural crops, or spices. In this connexion the
presence of other ruderal plants at the mining site (Daucus carota, Stellaria media agg. and Urtica dioica) should
be emphasised once again.
At any rate, the find of the N. damascena seed in the
mining site near Schwaz is clear evidence of the association between Alpine copper ore mining and the
Mediterranean during the middle to late Bronze Age.
Effectively, the find points to either trade or migration
between southern or south-eastern regions and central
Europe. These large-scale bonds have been documented
before by artefact finds and by evidence of the spread of
cultural and technological innovations. It is plausible to
assume that N. damascena had been brought to the Alps
by the same routes.
Acknowledgements The current work is basing on data from the
FWF project P12049 supported by the Austrian Science Fund
(“Fonds zur Frderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung”). We
thank H. Kroll (Kiel) for his investigations on archaeological finds
of N. damascena, and R. Krause (Landesdenkmalamt BadenWrttemberg) for the additional information on archaeometallurgy
and artefact finds in the Alps during the Bronze Age. We also thank
A. Weber (Wien) for the valuable information on differentiating
between N. damascena and N. elata. Further thanks go to H.-P.
Stika (Hohenheim) for providing us with seeds of N. integrifolia
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