The Archaeobotany and Ethnobotany of Portuguese or White Crowberry (Corema album)

Keywords: Plant macroremains, Iberia, Wild plant gathering, Maritime archaeology, Biodiversity conservation, Endangered species

Abstract

Portuguese crowberry (Corema album (L.) D. Don) is a shrub considered endemic to the Atlantic coastal dunes of the Iberian Peninsula. For many reasons, among which the most prominent are habitat loss and competition from invasive species, but possibly also due to overexploitation, the survival of several of its populations is now compromised. By promoting the identification of its archaeobotanical remains and gathering information about its past uses, the current need for conservation is emphasized. The plant has been exploited for its berries since at least the Early Neolithic and the species features in a number of historical written sources. Archaeological sites located within its current natural distribution area have yielded relatively abundant archaeobotanical finds. This evidence suggests that its distribution area was much larger in the past and has decreased rapidly in recent decades. Its archaeological importance may be misrepresented due to issues with identification, particularly outside its current distribution area. It is hoped that this paper will contribute to a higher identification rate of archaeobotanical remains of this plant, eventually leading to a more thorough recognition of its past importance and contributing to its present conservation.

Author Biography

Ines Lopez-Doriga, Environmental Archaeology Department, Wessex Archaeology, Salisbury

Inés L. López-Dóriga is an environmental archaeologist who specializes in archaeobotany with an interest in human-nature interactions and biodiversity conservation.

References

Aedo, C. and S. Castroviejo. 2012. Proyecto Anthos: Sistema de Información de las Plantas de España [web page]. URL: http://www.anthos.es/dispatch.es.html. Accessed on July 17, 2017.

Aguilella, A. S. F. and E. Laguna. 2009. Catálogo Valenciano de Especies de Flora Amenazadas. Colección Biodiversidad 18: Conselleria de Medi Ambient, Aigua, Urbanisme i Habitatge. Generalitat Valenciana, Valencia.

Álvarez-Cansino, L., M. Zunzunegui, M. Díaz Barradas, O. Correia, and M. Esquivias. 2013. Effects of Temperature and Rainfall Variation on Population Structure and Sexual Dimorphism Across the Geographical Range of a Dioecious Species. Population Ecology 55:135–146. DOI:10.1007/s10144-012-0336-3.

Baillon, H. 1867. Histoire des Plantes. Librairie Hachette, Paris. DOI:10.5962/bhl.title.40796.

Bellynck, A. and A. Segovia y Corrales. 1883-1885. Curso Elemental de Botánica. Escuela Tipográfica del Hospicio, Madrid.

Bock, B. 2016. Tela Botanica—Référentiel des Trachéophytes de France Métropolitaine [web page]. URL: http://www.tela-botanica.org. Accessed on July 17, 2017.

Boratyński, A. and M. L. V. de la Puente. 1995. The Empetraceae on the Iberian Peninsula. Willdenowia 25:39–53. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3996971. Accessed on July 17, 2017.

Brehm, A. E. 1880–1883. Historia Natural: La Creación. Montaner y Simon, Barcelona.

Bugalhão, J. and P. F. Queiroz. 2005. Testemunhos do Consumo de Frutos no Periodo Islamico em Lisboa. In Al-Ándalus Espaço de Mudança. Balanço de 25 Anos de Historia e Arqueologia Medievais. Homenagem a Juan Zozaya Stabel-Hansen, p. 195. Asociación Española de Arqueología Medieval, Mértola, Portugal.

Calviño-Cancela, M. and J. Martín-Herrero. 2009. Effectiveness of a Varied Assemblage of Seed Dispersers of a Fleshy-Fruited Plant. Ecology 90:3503–3515. DOI:10.1890/08-1629.1.

Carlquist, S. 1989. Wood and Bark Anatomy of Empetraceae; Comments on Paedomorphosis in Woods of Certain Small Shrubs. Aliso 12: 497–515.

Carruthers, W. J. 2014. The Waterlogged Plant Remains. In Newport Medieval Ship (467), edited by N. Nayling and T. Jones. Newport Museums and Heritage Service, Newport, RI.

Castroviejo, S. 1986-2016. Flora Iberica: Plantas Vasculares de la Peninsula Ibérica e Islas Baleares [web page]. 1-8, 10-15, 17-18, 21 Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC, Madrid. URL: http://www.floraiberica.es/. Accessed on July 17, 2017.

Clavijo, A., M. C. Díaz Barradas, F. Ain-lhout, M. Zunzunegui, and O. Correia. 2002. A Fragmentação e as Espécies Invasoras como Causa Principal da Redução do Habitat de Corema album na Sua Área de Distribuição. Revista Biologica 20: 109–120.

Colmeiro, M. 1870. Exámen Histórico Crítico de los Trabajos Concernientes a la Flora Hispano Lusitana: Fragmento que Alcanza hasta Fines del Siglo XVI. Tomas Rey, Madrid.

de Cortes Sánchez-Mata, M. and J. Tardío. 2016. Mediterranean Wild Edible Plants: Ethnobotany and Food Composition Tables. Springer, New York, NY. DOI:10.1007/978-1-4939-3329-7.

Dambeck, R., H. Thiemeyer, N. Herrmann, A.J. Kalis, M. Kunst, A. Lord, H. Rittweger, H-P. Stika, and A. Stobbe. 2010. Holozäne Talentwicklung und Landschaftswandel am Rio Sizandro. Geoarchäologische Beiträge zum Projekt Sizandro-Alcabrichel (Torres Vedras, Portugal). Madrider Mitteilungen 51: 9–46.

Desfontaines, R.L. and M. Desfontaines. 1809. Histoire des Arbres et Arbrisseaux qui Peuvent être Cultivés en Pleine Terre sur le Sol de la France. J. A. Brosson, Paris.

Euro+Med Plantbase —The Information Resource for Euro-Mediterranean Plant Diversity [web page]. URL: http://ww2.bgbm.org/EuroPlusMed/ Accessed on July 17, 2017.

Fedriani, J. M. and M. Delibes. 2009. Functional Diversity in Fruit-Frugivore Interactions: A Field Experiment with Mediterranean Mammals. Ecography 32: 983–992. DOI:10.1111/j.1600-0587.2009.05925.x.

Fernández de la Cigoña, E. 1988. La Camariña: Distribución Histórica y Actual. Posibilidades de Recuperación en Galicia. Revista de Estudios Provinciais 5: 115–128.

Font Quer, P. 1985. Plantas Medicinales: El Dioscórides Renovado. Ediciones Península, Barcelona.

Gil-López, M.J. 2011. Etnobotánica de la Camarina (Corema album, Empetraceae) en Cádiz. Acta Botanica Malacitana 36: 137–144.

Gomez de Ortega, C. 1784. Continuacion de la Flora Española o Historia de las Plantas de España que Escribia Don Joseph Quer. Joachin Ibarra, Madrid.

Hopf, M. 1981. Pflanzliche Reste aus Zambujal. In Zambujal Die Grabungen 1964 bis 1973, edited by E. Sangmeister and H. Schubart, pp. 315–340. Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Madrid.

Hurtado de Mendoza, M. 1840. Vocabulario Médico-quirúrgico o Diccionario de Medicina y Cirugía que Comprende la Etimología y Definición de Todos los Términos Usados en Estas dos Ciencias por los Autores Antiguos y Modernos. Boix, Madrid.

Jesus, A., A. Gonçalves, and J.P. Tereso. 2017. Estudo Carpológico do Sítio Islâmico do Alto da Vigia (Sintra). Poster presented at the 1st Iberian Carpology Meeting. Porto, Portugal.

Kim, K. H., S. Nilsson, and J. Praglowski. 1988. A Note on the Pollen Morphology of the Empetraceae. Grana 27: 283-290. DOI: 10.1080/00173138809429950. Láinz, M. 1971. Aportaciones al Conocimiento de la Flora Gallega VII. Anales del Instituto Forestal de Investigaciones y Experiencias 12: 1–39.

Larrinaga, A. R. and P. Guitián. 2016. Intraspecific Variation in Fruit Size and Shape in Corema album (Ericaceae) Along a Latitudinal Gradient: From Fruits to Populations. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 118: 940–950. DOI:10.1111/bij.12794.

León-González, A. J., P. Truchado, F. A. Tomás-Barberán, M. López-Lázaro, M. C. D. Barradas, and C. Martín-Cordero. 2013. Phenolic Acids, Flavonols, and Anthocyanins in Corema album (L.) D. Don Berries. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 29: 58–63. DOI:10.1016/j.jfca.2012.10.003.

López-Dóriga, I. 2015-2016. The Use of Plants During the Mesolithic and the Neolithic in the Atlantic Coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Doctoral Dissertation, Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria, Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, Spain. Available at: https://repositorio.unican.es/xmlui/handle/10902/8427. Accessed on July 17, 2017.

Marques, E. M. M. d. S. 2007. Caracterização das Populações de Camarinha (Corema album L.) no Cabo Carvoeiro. Master's thesis, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Lisbon, Portugal. Available at: http://repositorio.ul.pt/handle/10451/1332. Accessed on July 17, 2017.

Mateus, J. 1989. Pollen Morphology of Portuguese Ericales. Revista de Biologia 14:135–208.

Mateus, J. E., P. F. Queiroz, and W. van Leeuwaarden. 2003. O Laboratório de Paleoecologia e Arqueobotânica-Uma Visita Guiada aos Seus Programas, Linhas de Trabalho e Perspectivas. In Paleoecologia Humana e Arqueciencias: um Programa Multidisciplinar para a Arqueologia sob a Tutela da Cultura, pp. 104–188. Instituto Português de Arqueologia, Lisbon, Portugal.

Padulosi, S., K. Hammer, and J. Heller. 1996. Hulled Wheats: Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Hulled Wheats, 21-22 July 1995, Castelvecchio Pascoli, Tuscany, Italy. Biodiversity International, Rome, Italy. Available at: https://www.bioversityinternational.org/index.php?id=244&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=148&cHash=7de9d50f97676192303fc08a19002211. Accessed on December 17, 2017.

Parfitt, S. A., R. W. Barendregt, M. Breda, I. Candy, M. J. Collins, G. R. Coope, P. Durbidge, M. H. Field, J. R. Lee, A. M. Lister, R. Mutch, K. E. H. Penkman, R. C. Preece, J. Rose, C. B. Stringer, R. Symmons, J. E. Whittaker, J. J. Wymer, and A.J. Stuart. 2005. The Earliest Record of Human Activity in Northern Europe. Nature 438:1008–1012. DOI:10.1038/nature04227.

Pérez-Jordà, G., L. Peña-Chocarro, M. García Fernández, and J.C. Vera Rodríguez. 2017. The Beginnings of Fruit Tree Cultivation in the Iberian Peninsula: Plant Remains from the City of Huelva (Southern Spain). Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 26:527–538. DOI:10.1007/s00334-017-0610-6.

Piazzon, M., A. R. Larrinaga, J. Rodríguez-Pérez, L. Latorre, L. Navarro, and L. Santamaría. 2012. Seed Dispersal by Lizards on a Continental-Shelf Island: Predicting Interspecific Variation in Seed Rain Based on Plant Distribution and Lizard Movement Patterns. Journal of Biogeography 39:1984–1995. DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2012.02718.x.

Pimentel, A., 1899. Historia do Culto de Nossa Senhora em Portugal. Libanio Guimarães, Lisbon, Portugal.

Queiroz, P. F. and J. van der Burgh. 1989. Wood Anatomy of Iberian Ericales. Revista de Biologia 14:95–134.

Queiroz, P.F. and J.E. Mateus. 2004. Paleoecologia Litoral entre Lisboa e Sines: Do Tardiglaciário aos Tempos de Hoje. In Evolução Geohistórica do Litoral Português e Fenómenos Correlatives, edited by A.A. Tavares, M.J.F. Tavares, and J.L. Cardoso. Universidade Aberta, Lisbon, Portugal.

Queiroz, P. F. and J.E. Mateus. 2011. Estudo Paleoecológico do Depósito Orgânico Medieval Conservado na Estratigrafia Arqueológica da Casa dos Bicos, Lisboa. Terra Scenica—Territorio Antigo Report no. 25.

Sánchez García, I. 2000. Flora Amenazada del Litoral Gaditano. Consejería de Medio Ambiente, Junta de Andalucía, Diputación de Cádiz, Spain.

Stevenson, A. C. 1984. Studies in the Vegetational History of S.W. Spain. III. Palynological Investigations at El Asperillo, Huelva. Journal of Biogeography 11:527–51. DOI:10.2307/2844798.

Stika, H.-P. and A.G. Heiss. 2014. Shifting Diversities: Examples for Changes in Crop Use from the Chalcolithic to the Bronze Age in Western and Central Europe. Paper presented at the 20th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists. Istanbul, Turkey.

Sweet, R. 1826. Hortus Britannicus: Or a Catalogue of Plants Cultivated in the Gardens of Great Britain, Arranged in Natural Orders. W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, London.

Sóñora Gómez, F. X. 1994. A Camariña (Corema album) en Galicia. Braña, Revista de la Sociedade Galega de Historia Natural 1:13–25.

Wolverton, S. and R. L. Lyman, 2012. Introduction to Applied Zooarchaeology. In Conservation Biology and Applied Zooarchaeology, edited by S. Wolverton and R. L. Lyman. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ.

Published
2018-04-09
How to Cite
Lopez-Doriga, I. (2018). The Archaeobotany and Ethnobotany of Portuguese or White Crowberry (Corema album). Ethnobiology Letters, 9(2), 19-32. https://doi.org/10.14237/ebl.9.2.2018.1069
Section
Research Communications