Anthropogenic flora of prehistoric settlements according to macro-remain analysis

The aim of this article is to outline our recent knowledge of the history of anthropogenic flora based on data from archaeobotanical investigations of prehistoric sites. It is based on 207 archaeological sites (301 settlement phases) investigated in the Czech Republic. We aimed at tracing both successive changes of anthropogenic flora, as well as the spreading history of alien plants (using computation of the immigration rate of archaeophytes). Moreover, our data reflect the origin of anthropogenic non-forest vegetation (segetal and ruderal plant communities, and also semi-natural communities such as pastures, meadows, and wet meadows). Above all, we depict the specific features of archaeobotanical analysis, and emphasise some limitations of this method when used for botanical interpretations.