Early farming and wild plant exploitation in the Linear Pottery Culture of southeastern Poland: new evidence from the sites Rzeszów-Zwięczyca and Łańcut

Abstract The transition from hunter-gatherer societies to agricultural communities in southern Poland began in the latter half of the 6th millennium bc with the arrival of the first farming groups from the Danube region, associated with the Linear Pottery culture (LBK). This study presents new archaeobotanical data from two LBK sites in southeastern Poland: Rzeszów-Zwięczyca site 3 and Łańcut site 3. The analyses revealed key cultivated species, primarily emmer wheat ( Triticum dicoccon ) and einkorn wheat ( Triticum monococcum ), along with smaller amounts of flax ( Linum usitatissimum ) and pulses (cf. Pisum sp.). Among wild herbaceous plants white goosefoot ( Chenopodium album ), black bindweed ( Fallopia convolvulus ) and brome grasses ( Bromus sp.) were predominant. Additionally, a relatively high share of hazelnut remains ( Corylus avellana ) in LBK contexts suggests that this wild species was likely consumed by early farming communities. These results provide the first well-documented archaeobotanical evidence from LBK sites in southeastern Poland, offering new insights into early farming, suggesting that cultivation was strongly focused on emmer wheat, while plant-use strategies likely also included the gathering of wild plants as a component of the diet.