I found carbonised seeds (split fruits) in Late Medieval Rotterdam, and there are two British records known to me (one Roman from Wales and one medieval from London), but I am not aware of any finds from the natural distribution area of this kitchen herb (mentioned in the Capitulare de Villis) along the Mediterranean. I would be highly interested in references to such finds.
this plant is actually native, or at least grows wild in Britain so maybe calling it a naturalised resident would be more accurate, so it is not surprising that we find occasional examples in archaeological context, given its present day habitat I suspect it may occur as weed seeds even more often, it also seems to grow wild on ex monastic sites which may suggest that they were cultivating it, however, off hand I cannot recall any from stratified contexts, mind you if they are growing on site this may cause problems of sampling meaning that unless it is specifically tested for, and efforts made to avoid contamination, which probably could not be justified on excavations they are going to be missed.
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