The status of phytolith analysis in the American tropics |
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Authors: | Dolores R. Piperno |
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Affiliation: | (1) Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Box 2072, Balboa, Republic of Panama;(2) MASCA, The University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, 33rd and Spruce Streets, 19102 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;(3) STRI APO Miami, 34002, Florida |
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Abstract: | Phytolith analysis is now sufficiently mature to provide an independent source of data in tropical paleoethnobotany and paleoecology. At the same time, ongoing studies of phytoliths from tropical plants and sediments are discovering new applications. There are, to be sure, problems in interpreting prehistoric plant use and paleoecology which cannot be addressed through phytolith analysis; some of the more important ones are listed. Through a review of recent studies in the New World tropics, this paper presents some contributions to, problems of, and prospects for phytolith analysis to inform the archaeological community about such issues as (1) the origins and dispersals of domesticated plants, (2) the development of tropical forest agriculture, (3) the uses of tropical plants in prehistory, and (4) the distribution and composition of past plant communities. |
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Keywords: | phytoliths American Tropics paleoethnobotany paleoecology plant domestication agriculture |
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