Woody and non-woody forest raw material at the early Neolithic site of La Draga (Banyoles, Spain)

The early Neolithic site of La Draga (Banyoles, Spain) has provided a singular sample of plant-crafts, wooden tools, and other plant remains preserved in waterlogged conditions. This exceptional context of plant remains preservation provides an incomparable frame to study past botanical knowledge and the emergence and devel- opment of plant transformation technologies. The goal of this paper is to provide an integrated synthesis of the plant resources used by the inhabitants of La Draga, paying special attention to the main taxa used, the environ- ments exploited and the plant acquisition strategies. Through the results of the analysis of plant-crafts, timber and wooden tools, charcoal remains, exudates, fungi, and microremains as pollen, we discuss types of forest and plants exploited to obtain raw materials and the human impact on vegetation. The plant raw materials identified at La Draga indicate the exploitation of local resources available in deciduous and riparian forests where an anthropic disturbance is documented contemporary with the occupation.This work was supported by Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades, Spain, projects: WOOD- PDLAKE -Archaeological Wooden Pile-Dwelling in Mediterranean European lakes: strategies for their exploitation, monitoring and conservation, JPICH -Conservation, Protection and Use Joint Call (PCI2020-111992)-, PID2019-109254GB-C21 -Paleoambiente, modelización del paisaje y análisis del uso de plantas en la transición a la agricultura en el Noreste de La Península Ibérica-. The archaeological excavation at La Draga was funded by the Departament de Cultura (Generalitat de Catalunya) CLT009/18/00050. The authors are member of the research group supported by AGAUR- Generalitat de Catalunya: TEDAS 2017 SGR 243 and ASD 2017 SGR 995. RP also acknowledges the sup- port of Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA, Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain), through the ICREA Academia Program. M. Berihuete-Azorín (2018 BP 00272) received funding from the postdoctoral fellowships pro- gramme Beatriu de Pinós, funded by the Secretary of Universities and Research (Government of Catalonia) and by the Horizon 2020 programme of research and innovation of the European Union under the Marie Skfodowska-Curie grant agreement 801370.M