Excavations in Swabia give archaeologists insights into the dietary habits of people in the Middle Ages. During the excavations in the center of Monheim (Donau-Ries district), the scientists found numerous botanical traces and thus the remains of rye, seed oats, hemp, hazelnuts, wild strawberries, cherries, sloes, blackberries, raspberries and bladder cherries, such as the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments reported on Tuesday.
“A special find is the rest of a fig core,” the authority reported. At that time, the fig was imported as a dried fruit from the Mediterranean region, mainly because of its sweetness. “The cultivation of fig trees was probably tried again and again.” The plant remains were discovered on the exposed remains of an oak palisade from the first half of the 13th century. Based on the wood, the construction of the fence could be dated to the year 1234.
The archaeologists assume that the palisade was a forerunner of the later city wall. Monheim only received city rights about 100 years later from the Count of Oettingen. “Back then, Monheim was obviously already a self-confident, prosperous settlement,” said Bavaria’s General Curator Mathias Pfeil about the early wooden palisade.