Abstract
Artemisia spp. (mugwort) are herbs with significant use in the traditional folk medicine. They are widely used to treat various symptoms of respiratory, digestive, infectious, and gynecological diseases. Recently, their efficacy has been verified through the pharmacological analysis. However, only limited evidence is available regarding their prehistoric importance as medicinal herbs, and even the largest archaeobotanical database of West Asia, the Archaeobotanical Database of Eastern Mediterranean and Near Eastern Sites (ADEMNES), has only one record of Artemisia utilization. It is remarkable, then, that recent excavations at three prehistoric sites in the Middle Kura Valley of West Azerbaijan, South Caucasus, have yielded substantial amounts of Artemisia seeds. Further, evidence from one of these sites, Göytepe, suggests that Artemisia was used as an insecticide/fungicide. The high frequency of occurrence of charred Artemisia seeds in the three sites implies that this plant was used in daily life, and its exploitation may be considered one of the cultural components of prehistoric West Azerbaijan.
