Abstract: In his De materia medica, Dioscorides catalogues thousands of medicinal plants from across the Mediterranean and identifies the regional sources of the most potent varieties. As of yet, no effort has been made to analyze the regional, environmental conditions of the locations noted by Dioscorides and other contemporary authors like Pliny the Elder, in his Natural Histories. This study reconstructs the paleoenvironments of Iris germanica (iris) in Smooth Cilicia and Illyria and Crocus sativus (saffron) at sites in Rough Cilicia and Lycia, by surveying ancient texts, archeological, geological, palaeobotanical, and hydrological studies. I argue that the paleoenvironmental conditions of the 1st century AD, particularly temperature, soil conditions, altitude, sun exposure, and salinity, exhibit similarities between these site pairings and seem to correlate with favorable plant niches of iris and saffron. Analyses of Dioscorides’ De materia medica and other ancient texts in conjunction with paleoenvironmental datasets enable new avenues for studies of ancient environments and medicinal plants.
Map of Iris and Saffron Growing Regions
Video:
Live Poster Session:
Thursday, July 29th 1:15-2:30pm EDT