Agriculture and viticulture in the New Kingdom-Antique Egyptian Delta.

International audienceExcavations at Plinthine on the north coast of Egypt have revealed both settlement and industrial spaces, especially those related to wine production. The contexts date to the New Kingdom (2nd half of the 2nd millenium BC) all the way to Early Roman period (1st c. AD). Analysis of the archaeobotanical macro-remains show the presence of local agrosystems. Remains include cereals, mostly barley (Hordeum vulgare) and wheat (Triticum turgidum subsp. dicoccon), pulses (mainly lentil, Lens culinaris), and a rich corpus of grape (Vitis vinifera) pips and grape by-products confirming a specialisation in viticulture at Plinthine. Geometric morphometric analysis carried out on grape pips from Saito Persian (7th-mid 5th c. BC) and Ptolemaic (4th-1st c. BC) periods revealed a wide morphological diversity throughout time, and a difference between Saito-Persian and Ptolemaic Periods. Additionally, the pips, whatever the period, correspond to morphotypes close to wild grapes, perhaps related to cultivars that have undergone a low selective pressure and/or grapes that have been grown from seedlings. Seed and fruit study, geometric morphometric analysis of grape pips as well as charcoal analysis will be used to explore agricultural land and viticulture in the Nile Delta, especially between the New Kingdom and Early Roman period. A special focus point will be looking at the switch between the Saito-Persian Periods to the Ptolemaic Period