The first agriculture from Balearic Islands: the evidences from Cova des Riuets

Abstract

We present the evidence related to the agricultural practices of the first inhabitants of Formentera, found in excavations at the cave des Riuets (La Mola, Formentera). The cave preserved a context from the early second millennium BC rich in ceramic and organic debris of all types (fauna, fish, mollusks, coal, etc.), among which standout carpological remains very scarce in the prehistoric contexts of the Balearic archipelago. Moreover, we have also found fragments of the active and passive parts of mills, that allowed us to define some features of their typology and perform chemical analysis to define their functionality.