ethnobotony of Crete

Hi all. I am working on a volunteer project for a new botanical garden in San
Luis Obispo, California, USA. The garden is 150 acres and has a master plan
but no large-scale development yet. The theme will be the 5 Mediterranean
areas. I have offered to try and locate written sources of the ethnobotany of
the native peoples of those 5 areas for use by the garden association in
developing interpretive materials. 

Brent Wilcox--

I have some information about Crete and Greece because I have been studying
the area for a book I'm writing (historical fiction novel set in Minoan
Crete).  Of course the Greek people can speak for their own history, and you
should try to contact people in each area about their own ethnobotony, but I
have come across a study by the University of Toronto that is quite
interesting.  Archeologists have undertaken some ethnobotanical studies near
Kommos on the southern shores of Crete to see how people use the native
vegetation today compared with pollen and charcoal studies of neolithic and
bronze age ethnobotony.  Modern day uses of plants include 160 plants within
a 3km radius of Kommos, with medicinal plants comprising 79% of that total.
The shrub communities are richest in useful species, including lentisc
(which is used for beverage, medicine, crafts, fuel and ritual) and thyme.
Other wild-collected plants include onion, garlic, mustard, carrot, and
asparagus pea.  The archeological team from Toronto has found that the
ecosystem of ancient Crete began to change after 4700 BC when pollen of
evergreen oak decreased and the pollen of olive, pine and rockrose
increased.  If you would like more information along these lines, the source
for this information is :
        KOMMOS: An excavation  of the South Coast of Crete by the University
of Toronto and the Royal Ontario Museum under the Auspices of the American
School of Classical Studies at Athens.  Joseph W. Shaw, Maria C. Shaw,
Editors. 1995. Princeton University.  Published by Princeton University
Press, 41 William St., Princeton, New Jersey, 08540.

I also have a wonderful article by Diane Kochilas that was published in The
National Herald (May 9-10, 1998) about the Cretan wild foods.  She
interviewed Zaharis Kypriotakis, who has a PhD on the flora of Crete (and he
may be a member of the Mediterranean Garden Society or this listserve for
all I know!)  Anyway, if you'd like a copy of the article, I would be happy
to mail it to you if you send me your address.

Good Luck on your exciting project,
Deborah Ferber
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