Dissertation. From Late Iron Age to Late Roman times the occupants of the site of De Horden witnessed the arrival of the Roman Limes, presumably with a castellum nearby. The research aimed to discover possible changes in the animal and plant husbandry by looking at the distribution of the botanical macro remains in the site in the different periods. The methodological approach was oriented towards computer analyses. The multivariate Corresondence Analysis was used to investigate the distribution patterns in space and time. In order to better understand taphonic processes and what is 'natural' or regular or to be considered as mere 'settlement noise' and what is exceptional or to be interpreted as archaeological meaningful also the theoretical frequency distributions of the species in the samples are compared with the actual finds. The results of the analysis showed an increase in grass remains, indicating an increase in animal husbandry. Among the 50.000 seeds observed only one Coriander seed refers to direct Roman influence. The major importance of the study was that computer analysis could be very well applied and recover patterns that otherwise would have been missed.

Date Accepted: 1988-11-25