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The large-scale excavation at the prehistoric site of Tell el-Iswid made it possible to undertake a systematic archaeobotanical study of different structures covering the Predynastic and Early Dynastic period (Lower Egyptian Cultures (Buto II) to Naqada III Culture. Here we present the results of the analysis of carpological remains preserved mostly in charred state and coming from 62 samples processed by manual flotation, with total volume of 615 litres and containing a total of 9672 identifiable and quantifiable items. Further ca. 650 wood fragments (or woody vegetative remains) were subject to anthracological analysis. Besides the aim of overall characterising and exploring the plant economy of the site, the macrobotanical assemblages were also considered in relation to the structures from which they were uncovered. The study revealed that the agricultural economy of both studied periods relied on emmer, barley, lentils, and pea, but from the Early Dynastic times onwards also flax and condiments (like Anethum graveolens and cf. Origanum sp.) played a certain role. Together with the cultivated fields also the surrounding wetlands were an important part of the plant resources utilized at site. The stems of Phragmites are also the most common among the anthracological remains, together with a small proportion of Tamarix and Acacia charcoal fragments. The overall composition of the plant assemblages (charred and mineralised chaff, small weed or wild growing seeds capable to pass the herbivore digestion, dung fragments, awns) suggest that the major source of the retrieved plant remains was dung fuel.

While he is mentioned as bishop of Maastricht between the late 6th century and the beginning of the 7th century by the medieval Liège chronicles, starting with the Gesta episcoporum written by Hériger de Lobbes (ca 980), Perpète, whose relics are preserved today in the collegiate church of Ste-Marie-et-St-Perpète in Dinant (prov. Namur), was excluded from the critical list of the bishops of Tongres-Maastricht- Liège. However, a rereading of the written sources mentioning him and the recent contribution of archaeometry and paleoanthropology invite us to rehabilitate Perpète as bishop, as a historical figure, and no longer only as an object of veneration. His burial in Dinant, a small agglomeration in the Mosan basin, is in keeping with the practice of the bishops of Tongeren-Maastricht who focused their efforts at Christianisation in the most dynamic communities of their diocese during the Merovingian era. This burial, in the St-Vincent church as reported by Gilles d'Orval’s Gesta episcoporum around 1250, and the spread of the cult of this saint from Saragossa in the north of Gaul plead in favour of the existence of this church —at the latest in ca 600. The transfer of the relics of St. Perpète to the church of Ste-Marie in Dinant took place at the latest in 1096, when it had the double dedication of Ste-Marie-et- St-Perpète. It’s probably part of the programme of assertion of power of the bishops of Liège in Dinant between the late 10th century and the late 11th century. Alors qu’il est mentionné comme évêque de Maastricht entre la fin du 6e et le début du 7e s. par les grandes chroniques liégeoises médiévales, à commencer par les Gesta episcoporum d’Hériger de Lobbes en ca 980, Perpète, dont les reliques sont conservées aujourd’hui en la collégiale Ste-Marie-et-St-Perpète de Dinant (prov. Namur), a été exclu de la liste critique des évêques de Tongres-Maastricht-Liège. Or une relecture des sources écrites le mentionnant et l’apport récent de l’archéométrie et de la paléoanthropologie invitent à réhabiliter Perpète comme évêque, comme personnage historique, et non plus seulement comme objet de vénération. Son inhumation à Dinant, agglomération du bassin mosan, s’inscrit dans la pratique des évêques de Tongres-Maastricht qui concentraient leurs efforts de christianisation dans les communautés les plus dynamiques du diocèse à l’époque mérovingienne. Cette inhumation, en l’église St-Vincent comme le rapportent les Gesta episcoporum de Gilles d’Orval vers 1250, et la diffusion du culte de ce saint saragossais dans le nord de la Gaule plaident en faveur de l’existence de cette église au plus tard en ca 600. Le transfert des reliques de S. Perpète vers l’église Ste-Marie de Dinant eut lieu au plus tard en 1096, lorsque celle-ci portait la double dédicace Ste-Marie-et-St-Perpète, et s’inscrit probablement dans le programme d’affirmation du pouvoir des évêques de Liège à Dinant entre la fin du 10e s. et la fin du 11e s. Perpète, dessen Reliquien heute in der Stiftskirche Ste-Marie-et-St-Perpète in Dinant (Provinz Namur) aufbewahrt werden, wird von den mittelalterlichen Lütticher Chroniken, beginnend mit der Gesta episcoporum von Hériger de Lobbes um 980, als Bischof von Maastricht zwischen Ende des 6. Jahrhunderts und Anfang des 7. Jahrhunderts erwähnt. Trotzdem wurde er von der kritischen Liste der Bischöfe von Tongern-Maastricht-Lüttich ausgeschlossen. Ein erneutes Lesen der schriftlichen Quellen, in denen er erwähnt wird, und der jüngste Beitrag der Archäometrie und Paläoanthropologie laden uns jedoch ein, Perpète als Bischof, als historische Figur und nicht mehr nur als Gegenstand der Verehrung, zu rehabilitieren. Seine Beerdigung in Dinant, einer Ansiedlung im Mosan-Becken, entspricht der Praxis der Bischöfe von Tongern-Maastricht, die sich während der Merowingerzeit auf die Christianisierung in den dynamischsten Gemeinden der Diözese konzentrierten. Diese Beerdigung in der Saint-Vincent-Kirche, wie sie von Gilles d’Orvals Gesta episcoporum um 1250 berichtet wurde, und die Verbreitung des Kultes dieses Heiligen aus Saragossa im Norden Galliens sprechen für die Existenz dieser Kirche spätestens um. 600. Die Übergabe der Reliquien des Heiligen Perpète an die Kirche Ste-Marie in Dinant erfolgte spätestens 1096, als sie die doppelte Widmung von Ste-Marie-et-St-Perpète trug. Sie ist wahrscheinlich Teil des Programms der Machtübernahme der Bischöfe von Lüttich in Dinant zwischen dem Ende des 10. Jahrhunderts und dem Ende des 11. Jahrhunderts.

Two cremations dating from the Bronze Age were discovered in the 1950s in a burial mound in Postel in the province of Antwerp. The colour of the skeletal remains indicates a homogeneous cremation with a temperature of at least 800°C. The most ancient individual (dated to phase I of the construction of the burial mound) is the most complete: about ¾ of its remains, which belong to all anatomical categories, were transferred from the pyre to the grave. The osteological study reveals that it was probably an adult male who was at least 25 years of age. The second subject is more recent (dated to Phase III) and is thought to have been an individual of undetermined sex, under 20 years old. The smaller quantity of remains and the absence of some anatomical categories, including fragile and small bones, that this was a deliberate sorting made by the cremation officiant. This type of selection has already been seen in other Belgian sites dating from the Bronze Age and later.