The historical use of ladanum. Palynological evidence from 15th and 16th century cesspits in northern Belgium

Pollen of the Cistus ladanifer type and of other members of the Cistaceae family has been found in 15th and 16th century cesspits in Aalst and Raversijde, Flanders, Belgium. The presence of these Mediterranean pollen types in the cesspits is most probably the consequence of the use of ladanum, an ar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inVegetation history and archaeobotany Vol. 15; no. 2; pp. 145 - 148
Main Author Deforce, Koen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Heidelberg Springer 01.03.2006
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
16th century
Coasts
Essential oils
Generalities
Labdanum
Organisation and history of research
Palynology
Perfumes
Plants
Pollen
Prehistory and protohistory
Resins
Seeds
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Shrubs
Spores
Antiquity
Early
Late
Belgium
Mediterranean
Europe
Early modem time
Manuscript
Perfume
Cistus ladanifer L
History
Cesspits,Late medieval
Medicine
Finds
Type
Economy
Belgium
Resin
Production
Family
Ladanum
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Summary:Pollen of the Cistus ladanifer type and of other members of the Cistaceae family has been found in 15th and 16th century cesspits in Aalst and Raversijde, Flanders, Belgium. The presence of these Mediterranean pollen types in the cesspits is most probably the consequence of the use of ladanum, an aromatic resin produced by several Cistus species. In the Mediterranean region, ladanum has been used since antiquity for the production of perfumes and in medicine. In northwestern Europe, the use of ladanum is known from historical manuscripts but there have been no archaeobotanical finds indicating the use of ladanum until now.
ISSN:0939-6314
1617-6278
DOI:10.1007/s00334-005-0021-y