[Sca-cooks] Earliest find of Medieval spinach?

[JIMCHEVAL at aol.com]

A recent article on spinach, courtesy of the MEDMED  list:

Montaillou, famous for its Cathars, was excavated from 1998 – 2004.  
Charred remains of spinach were found in the hearth and in  pits
http://www.medievalhistories.com/medieval-spinach/


The  article however appears to be based on older research. It mentions the 
main  archeologist for this site, Jean-Paul Cazes:

Le site castral de  Montaillou en Ariège 
Jean-Paul Cazes    lien Archéologie du  Midi médiéval  lien   Year   2006   
  lien Volume   4    lien Issue   Suppl.  4    lien pp.  325-336

http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/amime_1278-3358_2006_
sup_4_1_1594


But  the carpological analysis was done by Marie-Pierre Ruas (who is pretty 
much  ubiquitous in these subjects) and Charlotte Hallavant, back in  2008:

Pratiques agraires et terroir de montagne : regard archéobotanique  sur 
Montaillou (Ariège) au XIIIe siècle 
Marie-Pierre Ruas , Charlotte  Hallavant    lien Archéologie du Midi 
médiéval   lien   Year   2008    lien Volume    26    lien Issue   26    lien pp.  
93-129

http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/amime_0758-7708_2008_
num_26_1_1661



Some nice pictures in the first article and Ruas' work is  always 
interesting.
 
For those with the right access:
The first Archaeobotanical evidence of Spinacia oleracea L. (Spinach) in  
late 12th – mid 13th century A.D. France
By Charlotte Hallavant and  Marie-Pierre Ruas
In: Vegetation History & Archaeobotany 2014 Vol.23pp.  153 – 165
Springer Verlag 2013
 


Jim Chevallier
www.chezjim.com

French hospital food in  the Middle  Ages
http://leslefts.blogspot.com/2014/03/french-hospital-food-in-middle-ages.htm
l