Rye cultivation in the Danish Iron Age - some new evidence from iron-smelting furnaces

Analyses have been carried out on well-preserved carbonised rye and barley plants and associated plant remains preserved in iron smelting furnaces from southern Jutland, Denmark. The furnaces are dated archaeologically to the transition between the Roman and Germanic Iron Ages (ca. A.D. 400). The results of the analyses allow detailed reconstruction of the contemporary fields, revealing them as having been well tended with a dense stand of crop plants and few weeds. The composition of the weed assemblages suggests that the rye was autumn-sown. Analysis of the culm bases and roots showed that rye had probably been broadcast sown, followed by a light harrowing to cover the sown grain.