Food, farming and trade on the Danube frontier: plant remains from Roman Aelia Mursa (Osijek, Croatia)

Excavations at the Roman town of Aelia Mursa, near the Danube frontier in Croatia, have uncovered an extraordinary assemblage of food remains dating to the early 2nd century AD. The findings include a diverse range of economically significant plants such as barley, bread wheat, lentils, and broad beans, alongside fruits, nuts, herbs, and vegetables like carrots, garlic, figs, grapes, and olives. Notably, exotic foods including pepper, rice, and pomegranate were also identified, providing rare evidence of long-distance trade on the Roman frontier. The study analyzed plant remains from a series of pits, offering unprecedented insights into the dietary habits, agricultural practices, and trade networks of the Roman Empire's Danube region.

Reed, K., Leleković, T., Lodwick, L., Fenwick, R., Pelling, R., & Kroll, H. (2021). Food, farming and trade on the Danube frontier: plant remains from Roman Aelia Mursa (Osijek, Croatia). Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 31(4), 363–376. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-021-00858-7