Plant processing strategies and their affect upon starch grain survival when rendering Peltandra virginica (L.) Kunth,Araceae edible

There is a long history of human interaction with plants of the Aroideae subfamily (Araceae). Despite these plants' chemical defenses against animal and vegetal predation, humans have targeted their starchy corms, tubers and rhizomes for dietary purposes. In the Eastern Woodlands of North America, early Europeans described the Native population as utilizing the highly acridic Peltandra virginica (arrow arum) for subsistence needs. In order to render this resource edible, however, the acridic principle first needs to be eliminated. Our study investigates the affect these processing activities have on the integrity of arrow arum starch grains. Findings from this study demonstrate that environmental variables specific to individual processing procedures may be more influential on starch grain survival than simply the temperatures reached during cooking.     

Modeling wood acquisition strategies from archaeological charcoal remains

Archaeological charcoal remains are often used to reconstruct local woodland composition in the past, but rarely address how and why people may have selected specific woody taxa for particular purposes. Models from the field of human behavioral ecology predict that people forage for wood resources by taking into account the relative usefulness, abundance, and handling time related to procuring different wood types. Archaeological and ecological data from the site of Gordion, in Central Anatolia (modern Turkey), were used to test expectations associated with such models. Results suggest that inhabitants of Gordion used wood types for fuel in proportion to their local availability, but that they selected specific, more distant woods for construction. In most occupation periods pine was preferred for construction, perhaps because it produces long, straight timbers for roofing, despite the distance at which it grows from the site. This case study demonstrates that behavioral ecology modeling can help to distinguish between multiple wood acquisition strategies potentially used in the past and improve our understanding of wood use from archaeological charcoal remains.     

Archaeological markers of agricultural risk management

Managing agricultural risk, or variance in annual production, is a priority for farmers and herders. This article reviews the ethnographic and historical literature on agricultural risk management and identifies diversification and intensification as two distinct approaches to managing risk. Quantitative analysis of plant and animal remains from archaeological sites produces robust datasets that can be used to test predictions of risk management models related to diversification and intensification strategies. I present a variety of established and novel paleoethnobotanical and zooarchaeological measures that have implications for risk management and argue that multiple lines of evidence are needed to identify risk-management practices from archaeological remains. The article concludes with a case study of the multiperiod urban center of Gordion in central Turkey, where quantitative analysis of plant and animal remains demonstrates diachronic changes in agricultural risk management over 3000 years of occupation.     

Using hearths for temper: petrographic analysis of Middle Woodland charcoal-tempered pottery in Northeast Florida

Charcoal-tempered pottery is uncommon in North America, but was produced with notable frequency in Northeast Florida from ca. AD 300–600. Thirty-six thin sections of pottery were analyzed by petrographic analysis and compared to 10 clay samples in order to characterize the paste of charcoal-tempered wares in terms of charcoal and mineralogical composition and abundance, assess the number of clay sources used to make the pottery, identify the species of wood represented in charcoal inclusions, and infer techniques of ceramic production. This analysis identified four temper categories, three texture groups, and three distinct clay resources used to make charcoal-tempered pottery, all of which were likely local to Northeast Florida. Identified wood taxa include pine (Pinus sp.), cedar (cf. Juniperus sp.), cypress (cf. Taxodium sp.), and sassafras (Sassafras albidum), with pine suspected to be the most common. These genera of charred wood, which exhibit minimal shrinkage in the samples, along with the prevalence of bone and grog inclusions, indicate that hearth contents were processed as temper, sometimes in combination with quartz sand. Potential reasons for the use of hearth contents as temper are considered.     

Dental wash: a problematic method for extracting microfossils from teeth

A variety of microfossils, originating from plant foods, become trapped in the dental calculus matrix. Processing of dental calculus allows extraction of these microfossils. The resulting data can be used to reconstruct diet at the individual and population levels as the identification of microfossils like starch grains and phytoliths to the generic level, and sometimes to the species level, is possible. However, in some archaeological sites, dental calculus deposits do not preserve well enough to be processed. To prevent the loss of information in such cases, we present a technique, called “dental wash”. It permits extracting microfossils from cryptic dental calculus deposits. In the two experimental archaeological cases presented herein we identified phytoliths, starch grains as well as a diatom fragment with this method, whereas in a control sample no microfossils were found. Moderate damage to the teeth was detected when they were already friable due to poor preservation. Minor damage to the surface of well-preserved teeth was observed. This indicates that the proposed method is efficient in recovering microfossils, but unacceptable because of damage to teeth. If the method can be refined, it will expand the potential of dental calculus analysis to a greater range of archeological sites.     

Tikal timbers and temples: ancient Maya agroforestry and the end of time

Tikal, a major lowland Maya civic-ceremonial center in the heart of the Petén region of Central America, relied heavily on the adjacent lowland rainforest as a resource base for fuel and construction materials. In this study, we analyzed 135 wood samples from timbers used in the construction of all six of the city's major temples as well as two major palaces to determine which tree species were being exploited and to better understand ancient Maya agroforestry practices during the Late Classic period. We found evidence for a change in preference from the large-growing, upland forest species, Manilkara zapota, to a seasonal wetland species Haematoxylon campechianum in A.D. 741 as well as a decrease in lintel beam widths over time. Though M. zapota later returned as the wood species of choice in A.D. 810, beam widths were found to be significantly smaller. These findings concur with models that hypothesize widespread deforestation during the Late Classic period and indicate a declining forest resource base by the 9th century A.D. Because of the many large timbers available for temple construction in the 8th century, some system of forest conservation is indicated for the ancient Maya prior to the Late Classic period.     

Paleoethnobotany in the Neotropics from Microfossils: New Insights into Ancient Plant Use and Agricultural Origins in the Tropical Forest

Analysis of plant microfossils (phytoliths, pollen, and starch grains) from archaeological and paleoecological sediments in the humid Neotropical forest can provide information on some formerly intractable problems in American paleoethnobotany and archaeology. Each technique has strengths that redress the other's shortcomings, and all three microfossils can be recovered from early sites, securely identified, and dated. Agricultural origins, Pleistocene/ Holocene environmental changes, and the evolution of slash-and-burn agriculture are three important issues that yield substantial results to phytolith, pollen, and starch grain study. Microfossils of a number of domesticates, including maize, manioc, squash, bottle gourd, arrowroot, and leren, have been identified in contexts dating from 9000 to 7000 radiocarbon years B.P. The scope and methodology of traditional paleoethnobotany should be expanded to routinely include microfossil study.     

Macrobotanical food remains from a trans-Holocene sequence at Daisy Cave (CA-SMI-261), San Miguel Island, California

Carbonized macrobotanical remains from a trans-Holocene archaeological and paleontological sequence at Daisy Cave provide important insights into the use of food plants by Paleocoastal people as well as later groups on California’s Northern Channel Islands. Small seeds are rare among the macrobotanical remains recovered in the cultural strata at Daisy Cave, which are dominated by charcoal from woody plants used as fuel. The recovery of Brodiaea-type corms from the Early and Late Holocene strata suggests, however, that geophytes were an important source of carbohydrates and calories for Channel Islanders throughout the Holocene. The proposed importance of geophytes is consistent with the abundance of Brodiaea in island vegetation communities recovering from more than a century of overgrazing, as well as the large numbers of digging stick weights found in island sites.     

不成熟粟、黍的植物考古学意义——粟的作物加工实验

我们在一个现代村落进行了一次传统方式的粟的早期作物加工实验,结果显示在收割的粟中含有相当比重的不成熟粟,这些不成熟粟经过脱粒和扬场等加工程序后,与其它作物加工的副产品一起被去除(作为燃料或者禽畜饲料)。类似的作物加工副产品也可以推测存在于黍的加工过程中。这一研究为植物考古样品中不成熟粟、黍的鉴定提供了一个参考标准。不成熟粟、黍是中国新石器和青铜时代植物考古样品中常见的组成部分,根据此次实验结果,我们提出了一些可供参考的鉴定标准,并用来自山东和河南的植物考古样品举例说明。我们认为种子形态而不是种子大小在粟的鉴定过程中起决定性作用。那些整体形状呈圆形,胚区呈窄卵形,胚区长约占种子长5/6的种子,即便很小,很扁,甚至像被"挤压"过,都可以鉴定为粟。尽管不成熟粟根据其成熟程度可以区分为不同的类别,但由于他们都集中在早期作物加工废弃物内,因此他们在解释作物加工方面的意义是相同的。另外,这一研究还肯定了在植物考古研究中不成熟粟类作物和成熟粟类作物的比例可以用来探讨作物加工对考古遗址中以粟类作物为主的植物遗存的形成过程的影响。     

The ethnoarchaeology of firewood management in the Fang villages of Equatorial Guinea, central Africa: Implications for the interpretation of wood fuel remains from archaeological sites

In archaeological literature, the study of trees and wood remains is a topic of relatively marginal interest, especially compared to texts on crops and human–animal relations. However, charcoal is the most frequent botanical remain found in archaeological sites. Charcoal analysis can therefore play a major role in the development of studies in both landscape and palaeoethnobotanical reconstruction. The majority of the archaeological charcoal assemblages reflect the exploitation of wood as an energy source (fuel). The archaeological study of firewood selection has been predominantly developed from “eco-utilitarian” or “subsistence economy” perspectives, but has not yet considered fuel collection and use as one of the most enduring categories of human–environment interactions, nor has archaeology looked into its potential as a source of empirical information on past perceptions of, and interactions with, ancient landscapes. The aim of this paper is to expand previous archaeological work on the interpretation of charcoal macro-remains through the study of firewood collection as a historically constituted, socially mediated and archaeologically observable landscape practice. In order to achieve this, we present an ethnoarchaeological case study from the Fang society of Equatorial Guinea (central Africa) aimed at gaining a better understanding of the complex interactions between cultural, ecological and economic variables in firewood collection strategies.