The comparison of archaeobotanical data and the oldest documentary records (14th–15th century) of useful plants in medieval Gdańsk, northern Poland

This paper presents a comparison of archaeobotanical data with information about useful plants from the oldest (14th–15th century) written sources that have survived in the archives of Gdańsk, northern Poland. The main information on plant products, available in medieval documents from Gdańsk, concerns taxa traded by merchants as well as those used by the Teutonic Knights or the city council of Gdańsk. In these sources, as well as from many records about cereals, numerous spices and vegetables are listed which do not have counterparts in the archaeobotanical remains which have been found. On the other hand, the archaeobotanical data complement our knowledge on the use of common plants, both cultivated and collected in the wild, which written sources do not mention. This situation is most apparent in the case of local fruits like plums, cherries or berries, of which numerous remains are proof of their considerable popularity in Gdańsk. This would be impossible to conclude on the basis of historical documents only, whose attention is focused on the more expensive and imported plant products.