What is Paleoethnobotany Archaeology?

What is Paleoethnobotany Archaeology?

Paleoethnobotany is the study of behavioral and ecological interactions between past peoples and plants, documented through the analysis of pollen grains, charred seeds and wood, phytoliths, and residues (Ford 1979; Hastorf & Popper 1988; Warnock 1998; Pearsall 2000).

What does an Archaeobotanist do?

Archaeobotany is also known as palaeoethnobotany (or paleoethnobotany). It focuses on the study of preserved plant evidence from archaeological sites and the reconstruction and interpretation of past human-plant relationships.

Who is known as Archaeobotanist?

Archaeobotanists or paleoethnobotanists are scholars or practitioners of archaeobotany (paleoethnobotany), a sub-discipline of archaeology concerned with plant remains.

What is paleoethnobotany and how does it relate to the study of diet?

Paleoethnobotany is the scientific investigation of human and plant interactions in the past; this includes both human environmental impact and cultural practices involving plants.

How do you identify phytoliths?

The shapes of phytolith replicas, their size dimensions (morphometric parameters), surface features (ornamentation), distribution, and orientation pattern in epidermal layers of vegetative and reproductive structures as well as their frequency are highly important for characterization of species.

Is pollen a phytolith?

All plants produce hard, crystalline structures around their cells called phytoliths. Like pollen, each plant or group of plants has its own signature structure. Consequently, identification of phytoliths in archaeological samples can tell us about the plants in the area.

Which of the following is an example of a Macrobotanical remain?

Macrobotanical remains can be seen by the naked eye or low power microscope. Examples of these include seeds and charcoal. Microbotanical remains are so small that in order to view them, you need to use a high-power microscope. These include pollen, starch grain, and phytoliths.

What can Macrobotanical remains tell us?

The term macrobotanical is used to discuss those plant remains that we can see with the naked eye. Identification of the recovered seeds, nuts, bones, plant parts, etc., provides direct information on what resources were available in the site vicinity, and also those definitely collected by the people who camped there.