I
was reminded recently of an article that I wrote for Seanda, the magazine from the National Roads Authority (NRA)
Archaeology section in Ireland (McClatchie 2011). The article presented results from the excavation of an archaeological
site at Baysrath, Co. Kilkenny. The site was discovered when a new road was being
designed and constructed, and it was found to contain a variety of settlement, industrial
and funerary features. The
excavation was carried out under the direction of archaeologist John Channing of
Valerie J. Keeley Ltd, and I undertook the examination of preserved plant
remains from the site.
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| Charred grains of spelt wheat, Baysrath |
One of the most interesting finds at Baysrath was the discovery of
substantial spelt wheat deposits in two different areas of the site. Spelt
wheat chaff and grains were found in a post-hole located in an area of Iron Age
activity (700 BC – AD 400). Spelt wheat grains and chaff were also found in a T-shaped drying kiln, and
the grains were radiocarbon dated to the transition between the Iron Age and
early medieval period (AD 400-1150). These two features contained one of the
largest spelt wheat assemblages ever found in Ireland. Spelt wheat assemblages
of comparable size are more often found at Iron Age and Roman archaeological sites
in Britain. Interestingly, one of the archaeological features at Baysrath
containing spelt wheat, the T-shaped drying kiln, is rare in Ireland. T-shaped
drying kilns are more commonly recorded in Roman Britain, and the presence of this particular kiln in Ireland may reflect
links across the Irish Sea at this time.
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| Charred chaff fragments of spelt wheat, Baysrath |
The consumption of spelt wheat has seen a revival in Ireland during
recent years. Although spelt wheat (Triticum
spelta L.) is closely related to bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), modern spelt wheat food-products are often less
processed than bread-wheat products, which may explain why spelt wheat is
viewed as more of a ‘health food’.
Spelt wheat can tolerate poorer soils and
less intensive management systems than the more commonly grown bread wheat,
which is reflected in the increasing popularity of spelt wheat among organic
growers.
There is also an important difference in how grain is separated from
chaff in each case. Bread wheat is a free-threshing wheat and is easily
separated from its enclosing chaff. Spelt wheat is, by contrast, a hulled
wheat, whereby the chaff is fixed firmly to the grain and is therefore more
difficult to remove. Although de-husking would have been a time-consuming
activity in the past, spelt wheat chaff does give the grains protection in the field
and in storage, providing a useful barrier against water and insect damage.
Archaeological evidence indicates that spelt wheat was introduced into
Ireland during the Bronze Age (2500-700 BC), several thousand years after the
introduction of other cereals, such as emmer wheat and barley. Spelt wheat had many
potential uses, including its incorporation into food products, such as bread
and gruels, as well as in brewing and perhaps as animal fodder.
But it seems
that spelt wheat was only ever a minor crop in Ireland’s past. The discovery of
a large spelt wheat assemblage from Baysrath is important because there are very
few substantial finds of spelt wheat from archaeological sites in Ireland. Indeed, I
would argue that spelt wheat is probably more popular in modern Ireland than it
has been at any stage in Ireland’s past!
Reference
McClatchie M (2011) A long tradition of cereal production. Seanda
6: 8-10.