Agriculture

Grain

The predominant grains grown here in Roman times were primarily spelt followed by emmer and particularly one-grained wheat.
These grain varieties belong to the spelt wheat type.
The hard and dry husk encases and protects the corn making it less susceptible to disease and pests.
Before grinding, the grains need to be dried, done over a fire, to remove them from the husk.

 

Fruit, vegetables and herbs

The staple foods were peas, lentils and beans.
In addition, chard, purslane and sorrel were also cultivated as well as, for example, cabbage, asparagus, carrots, garlic and salad.

The numerous cultivated fruit varieties included apples, pears, plums, damsons, cherries and peaches. Oil seeds included flax, camelina, poppy and hemp.

The villas’ herb gardens featured herbs such as coriander, dill, thyme, summer savory and mint as well as also medicinal plants, for example chamomile, rue and St. John’s wort.

 

Agricultural equipment

The archaeological findings from farms represent an important source for the agricultural equipment in our region.
This includes iron ploughshares, harrows, hoes and spades as well as scythes and sickles and various knives.

Writers of the time are also a source of information on the equipment that was needed for managing an estate.
However, Cato, Columella and Varro refer to Italy and do not necessarily depict our regional circumstances.

Depictions of agricultural equipment can also be found on reliefs i.e. stone carvings, mosaics and murals.

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