Research data supporting "Aldborough Roman Town Project 2024 (ALD24) Macrobotanical Dataset"

This dataset presents the quantified analysis of charred macrobotanical remains recovered during the 2024 archaeological excavation at Aldborough (Isurium Brigantium), site code: ALD24. It also supports the forthcoming paper “The Economy of a Lost Landscape: Turf Exploitation at the Roman Town of Isurium Brigantum (Aldborough, North Yorkshire)” (Payne et al., in preparation). Soil samples (12-33 litres) were processed in the field by bucket flotation, using a 250 μm nylon mesh for the light fraction and a 1 mm geological sieve for the heavy residue. The recovered material was analysed at the Pitt Rivers Laboratory, University of Cambridge. The dataset is provided as an Excel (.xlsx) file. Sheet 1: Raw Data This sheet contains the raw quantified macroremain data recovered during excavation. It includes sample volumes and contextual information that can be cross-referenced with the interim excavation report (Ferraby and Millett 2024). Columns represent individual samples, and rows represent identified macrobotanical taxa. Taxonomy follows Stace (2019), except for cereals, which follow Zohary et al. (2012). Sheet 2: Standardised Data This sheet contains standardised data derived from the raw dataset. Identifications have been consolidated (e.g. tentative identifications merged with secure identifications), and cereals grouped into barley or wheat categories. Only quantifiable remains are included. As in Sheet 1, rows represent taxa and columns represent samples. Each identification in sheet 2 is associated with: - a Code_Name (used for correspondence analysis plotting), - a Type classification (Grain, Chaff, Wild), - a Community classification (crop, segetal, ruderal, heathland, other/broad, wetland), and - a broader Group category (arable, heathland, other/broad, wetland). References: Ferraby, Rose and Martin Millett. 2024. Excavations at Aldborough (Isurium Brigantum) 2024 Interim Report. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.115885 Stace, Clive. 2019. New Flora of the British Isles. 4th ed. Suffolk: C&M Floristics. Zohary, Daniel, Maria Hopf, and Ehud Weiss. 2012. Domestication of Plants in the Old World: The Origin and Spread of Domesticated Plants in Southwest Asia, Europe, and the Mediterranean Basin. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.