Recovering Macrobotanical Remains: Current Methods and Techniques

White, Charles W.; Shelton, China

doi:10.5876/9781607323167.c006

Cited by 3 publications

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“…Flotation of these soil samples took place in winter 2019 using a modified wash-over technique (White and Shelton, 2014), recovering macrobotanical remains with a 0.45 mm mesh. Due to the high clay content of the soil, 250 ml of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) was added to each sample during flotation as a flocculant (Pearsall, 2015).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early millet cultivation, subsistence diversity, and wild plant use at Neolithic Anle, Lower Yangtze, China

Tang

Marston

Fang³

2022

The Holocene

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This study examines the archeological seed assemblage of Anle, a middle Neolithic site located in the Lower Yangtze region, China. The Lower Yangtze is thought to be the origin of domesticated rice and most studies of this region to date have focused on rice domestication and cultivation within its paleoenvironmental setting. In contrast, we highlight here diverse uses of non-rice plant resources. In addition to large quantities of rice remains (carbonized grains and spikelet bases), we identify both foxtail and broomcorn millet, both AMS radiocarbon dated earlier than 5750 cal BP, demonstrating the dispersal of millet cultivation to the Lower Yangtze in the middle Neolithic, earlier than previously securely documented. While most wild species identified in macrobotanical assemblages are traditionally categorized as weeds or incidental intrusions among food residues, many can be exploited for food and medicinal purposes. By analyzing the ecological and functional implications of identified plants, we infer ecological niches of cultivation, gathering, and possible propagation of wild plants as food and medicine. Analyses of diversity and seasonality of plant resources identified show that residents of Anle created a complex seasonal sequence of temporally compatible crops, constructing niches for two crops (rice and millet) and actively structuring opportunities to exploit available wild plant resources in their immediate environment.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early millet cultivation, subsistence diversity, and wild plant use at Neolithic Anle, Lower Yangtze, China

Tang

Marston

Fang³

2022

The Holocene

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An Intrasite Analysis of Agricultural Economy at Early Islamic Caesarea Maritima, Israel

Forste

2021

EBL

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The archaeological site of Caesarea Maritima in modern-day Israel was an important coastal town in the Early Islamic period (c. 636–1100 CE). In this article, I analyze 15 samples of carbonized wood and non-wood macrobotanical remains recovered from two residential neighborhoods to investigate the production and consumption of agricultural plant products. The identified crop and wood taxa are typical for the Mediterranean coast. Wild seeds point to crop cultivation in the vicinity of the site. Plant remains were collected from discrete contexts and are interpreted with associated features and artifacts, revealing cereal processing debris across a series of rooms in a former warehouse. Such a socioeconomic shift in this building, from a storage area to a crop processing space, is detectable by combining this intrasite analysis with the diachronic research previously conducted at the site.

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Balaios de plantas e animais

Silva

Shock

Prestes-Carneiro

2020

rsab

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O crescente número de pesquisas em arqueobotânica e zooarqueologia tem evidenciado a importância dessas subdisciplinas no contexto das pesquisas sobre a ocupação humana no Brasil, principalmente para o estudo de como as populações utilizaram, manejaram e domesticaram plantas e animais ao longo do tempo. Por outro lado, essa realidade não é acompanhada por publicações sobre a conservação desses vestígios, que requer cuidados específicos em razão de sua natureza orgânica e da ação dos diferentes processos de degradação. Assim, este artigo tem por objetivo apresentar práticas empregadas na conservação de macrovestígios botânicos e faunísticos, incluindo desde sua recuperação em campo até o seu acondicionamento final, que possam ser aplicadas em diferentes contextos arqueológicos.

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Recovering Macrobotanical Remains: Current Methods and Techniques

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Early millet cultivation, subsistence diversity, and wild plant use at Neolithic Anle, Lower Yangtze, China

Early millet cultivation, subsistence diversity, and wild plant use at Neolithic Anle, Lower Yangtze, China

An Intrasite Analysis of Agricultural Economy at Early Islamic Caesarea Maritima, Israel

Balaios de plantas e animais

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