Floral Remains Research Articles

Not up in smoke: Lipid and phytolith evidence for the function of combustion features at CA-ALA-11, a San Francisco Bay area shellmound

Ash and black char samples from seven combustion features at CA-ALA-11, an Early to Middle Period (ca. 2500 cal BCE to 585 cal CE) shellmound site on the San Francisco Bay shoreline, were analyzed for lipid, isotope, and phytolith content. Three features were intermingled with human burials and four were from nearby contexts not directly associated with human remains. Unlike more fragile biomolecules and floral remains, lipids and phytoliths can survive exposure to high temperatures. Together, these techniques supply independent and complementary lines of data for considering past cultural practices, local ecology, and post-depositional contributions. Our results shed light on the function and content of several combustion features, highlighting the untapped potential of such applications in the archaeology of California and elsewhere in North America. We focus on two combustion features with very different purposes. One appears to be the burnt remains of a basket (or possibly, a woven mat) coated with bitumen. This feature was associated with a burial and the basket or other woven object may have been burned as part of the funerary ceremony. Another feature, not directly associated with a burial, was composed of burned oyster shells and layered with leaves from a broadleaf tree—seemingly the remains of an ancient cooking feature for baking/steaming shellfish. Though small, this study demonstrates that analysis of sediments from combustion features can provide behavioral and ecological insights while avoiding destructive analysis of artifacts or human remains. We conclude with simple recommendations for integrating phytolith and lipid analysis of combustion features in future archaeological projects.

New age, stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental interpretation of the Loma de los Piojos Formation (San Juan Province, Argentina) based on new palynologic and stratigraphic information

A physical stratigraphic study of the Loma de los Piojos Formation (LPF) and related units at the homonymous locality (5 km north of Jachal city, San Juan Province, Argentina) was carried out. The first palynologic result is presented herein from the shale beds of the Loma de los Piojos Formation, just below the deposits bearing floral remains of the Frenguellia eximia–Nothorhacopteris kellaybelenensis–Cordaicarpus cesarii (FNC) informal zone of Balseiro et al. (Serpukhovian sensu lato). The Loma de los Piojos does not have an exposed base, and the Guandacol Formation (late Serpukhovian–early Pennsylvanian) overlies it. Also, the field work analysis allowed the association of LPF shales with the last depositional sequence of the recently defined and underlying Don Buenaventura Formation, of late Mississippian–earliest Pennsylvanian age. The four fertile samples obtained from the shale beds of the LPF yielded 45 species of terrestrial plants. Monosaccate pollen grains (Cannanoropollis janakii, Cannanoropollis mehtae, Circumplicatipollis plicatus, Crucisaccites monoletus) represent the Cordaitalean and Coniferalean that varied in their frequency c. 25 % in the lower two samples to 34 % and 7 % in the other two. Spore species of lycophytes dominate in all samples (ca. 50–80 %) along with other spores that appeared in the late Serpukhovian–Bashkirian subzone A of the Raistrickia densa–Convolutispora muriornata Palynozone (DMZ). However, in the lowest sample the key spore Spelaeotriletes ybertii and a well-preserved specimen of the striate bisaccate pollen Illinites unicus allowed the correlation with the late Bashkirian–Moscovian Subzone B of DMZ. Therefore, the informal floral zone Frenguellia eximia–Nothorhacopteris kellaybelenensis–Cordaicarpus cesarii is here reallocated to the Nothorhacopteris–Botrychiopsis–Ginkgophyllum (NBG) Zone, which is relevant in the global context of the evolution of the plant groups involved. This dark shale section would correspond to a warmer interval during which the maximum flooding zone was dated c. 320 Ma locally at the Huaco section (also close to Jachal city), also documented across the Paganzo Basin up to the Paraná Basin in Brazil. The three Late Paleozoic mentioned units were deposited within the largest incised valley complex of this region based on the amount of preserved depositional sequences (7), thickness (>1 km), and time span (from Late Mississippian to lower Pennsylvanian). This complex stratigraphic succession formed within a large paleovalley probably acted as a trunk drainage system connecting depositional areas from the continental interior with coastal areas of the Gondwanan continental western margin.

안정동위원소 분석을 통한 신석기시대 생업에 관한 연구의 성과와 방향

Although the question of the subsistence strategies in the Neolithic period is a central topic in Korean archaeology, the changes in subsistence activities have been investigated on the basis of preserved fauna and floral remains. Most previous studies on subsistence patterns have focused on the quantitative analysis of floral and fauna remains preserved in the shell middens. In contrast to traditional methods such as quantitative analysis of floral and fauna remains, stable isotope analysis provides a direct measurement of past human diets. This method provides information about whether individuals derived the protein in their diet from plant or animal sources.
 Until now, stable isotopic results of humans from Neolithic period (Ando, Janghang, Daepo, Tongsamdong humans) revealed that the Neolithic people were mainly dependent on marine food resources as hunter-gatherers. Based on the stable isotope data, we can propose that marine resource exploitation was the main subsistence strategy in the Neolithic period. However, there is also a regional difference in stable isotope values between west (Konamri human) and east-south coast. This indicates that there might be a possibility to have regional difference in subsistence strategies during Neolithic period.

From the Editors

From the Editors

Floral remains from the highest Valdeón formation, a marine stephanian unit south of the Picos de Europa, and comparisons with eastern Asturias, NW Spain

A critical analysis is presented of the available data on the Valdeón Formation, a Stephanian unit southwest of the Picos de Europa, in northern Leon. It lies unconformably on Devonian and lower Carboniferous (Mississippian) strata of the Gildar-Montó nappe structure, and is overthrust from the northwest by a variety of older strata of the Ponga unit. The Valdeón Formation, consisting of mudstones, sandstones and lensing conglomerate bands, is largely unfossiliferous and probably marine up to the highest levels where possibly lagoonal deposits contain a drifted megafloral assemblage, which is of Barruelian or later age. This flora is documented here with illustrations and the various taxa are discussed. Comparison is made with a succession of upper Cantabrian and lower Barruelian strata in northern Palencia (Brañosera and Barruelo formations), which show a broadly similar stratigraphic development. Floras from a small terrestrial interval near the base of the predominantly marine strata of Stephanian B age in eastern Asturias (at Fontecha and Arenas de Cabrales) are discussed for the overall comparison, but these floras are later in age and the relevant strata, belonging to the post-Asturian basin, show a different development. These later Stephanian floras are listed but only two species are illustrated.

Stable isotopes demonstrate the importance of freshwater fisheries in Late Holocene native Californian diets in the California Delta

Estimating paleodiet from macroscopic faunal and floral remains alone is difficult. Taphonomic biases make direct quantitative comparisons of different categories, such as fish bone, ungulate bone, and charred seeds challenging. Stable isotope data can help in this regard. To highlight this process, we present new bone collagen stable isotope data (δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S) from a series of animal and human remains from a Late Holocene (ca. 1000–300 cal BP) archaeological site in the California Delta. We contrast stable isotope data from humans with that from canid (Canis sp.), deer (Odocoileus sp.), elk (Cervus sp.), pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), and Sacramento perch (Archoplites interruptus) remains from the site. Most of these species are endangered or extirpated locally, making archaeological sites a primary source of paleoecological data. Of fourteen human individuals, twelve show isotope values consistent with heavy exploitation of freshwater wetland resources, which we interpret as a “local” dietary signature. By contrast, two individuals display a pattern more similar to precontact humans in other parts of interior California, which we interpret as recent immigrants to the site. Three subadults display elevated δ15N values relative to adults, consistent with these individuals still consuming significant amounts of breast milk near the time of death. A linear mixing model provides a quantitative estimate the role of different food groups in local diets. Together, we estimate that local adults gained over 60% of their protein from freshwater fishes. This heavy reliance on local fisheries is consistent with large numbers of fish bone from the site.

There Once Was a Frog: An Early Modern Frog in Ms. ROS 77

The article discusses an unpublished early modern Hebrew manuscript penned by the Italian Jewish physician Avraham Joel Conegliano (1665-1745) and today preserved at the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana in Amsterdam. Among its pages, the book conceals several floral remains and even a desiccated frog, an unprecedented finding in the research fields of both Jewish magic and Hebrew manuscripts. This article offers an overview of the manuscript and its contents and presents relevant biographical information on the author, highlighting the cultural and intellectual milieu in which Jewish physicians were trained, operated and transmitted their knowledge in Northern Italy at the end of the seventeenth-century.

Organic debris and allochthonous coal in Quaternary landforms within a periglacial setting (Longyearbyen Mining District, Norway) - A multi-disciplinary study (coal geology-geomorphology-sedimentology)

High volatile bituminous coal C and B is currently exploited at Spitsbergen-Svalbard, Norway. Several coal seams formed during the Palaeocene, of which some were reworked by mass wasting (MW), (glacial)-fluvial (GF) and coastal-marine wave-dominated (WM) processes under periglacial conditions during the Quaternary. This supergene alteration resulted in different landforms and deposit bearing four different types of depositional environments in Svalbard: (1) Invisible floral and faunal remains, (2) visible floral remains, (3) drift wood, (4) coal placers s. The subaerial slow- and fast-moving MW was accompanied by chemical weathering giving rise to jarosite coatings indicative of acidic meteoric solutions, whereas the remaining subaquatic processes operated under neutral to slightly alkaline conditions. Fast-moving MW and WM are productive processes, whereas GF ones are destructive with regard to coal accumulation. The most efficient tools to study the origin of the OM-bearing coarse-grained deposits are the morphology and orientation of bioclasts while the LER/HER (= low exothermic / high exothermic reaction) ratio is used for finer-grained OM-bearing sediments. The maceral analysis revealed that the landforms accounted for by GF and WM were emplaced as a result of geogenic and anthropogenic processes and aged younger than 1900 CE, while MW is Quaternary and true geogenic. Driftwood is cast in the role of a marker for coal-bearing (fluvial-) marine environments different in age and rank of coalification. With this in mind it is an excellent tool to drawn the boundary in paralic settings between the marine and fluvial impact. In conclusion, coal fragments are markers for short-term, periodical and fast landform-building processes, whereas siliciclasts from the host and bedrock are markers for long-term and episodical geomorphological and sedimentological supergene alteration.

Trace fossils from the Mississippian of the Piaskowa Góra section (the Intra-Sudetic Basin, SW Poland)

Eight ichnotaxa and enigmatic tubular forms were discovered and described for the first time from clastic deposits (the Culm facies) of the uppermost part of the Szczawno Formation (upper Mississippian) from in the Piaskowa Góra section in the northern part of the Intra-Sudetic Basin near Wałbrzych. The trace fossils are represented mostly by pascichnia and less numerous domichnia, fodinichnia and repichnia. Psammichnites plummeri and numerous Phycosiphon isp . are the most common ichnotaxa. They are accompanied by Archaeonassa fossulata, Beaconites cf. capronus , Curvolithus multiplex, Dictyodora liebeana, Palaeophycus isp ., and Planolites isp . D. liebeana is described for the first time from the lower Serpukhovian. Most components of the ichnoassemblage are typical of the Cruziana ichnofacies, but the co-occurrence of Dictyodora and Phycosiphon could indicate a transition to deeper environmental settings (the Zoophycos ichnofacies). The lithological features as well as the accompanying trace fossils, wrinkle structures and floral remains of Archaeocalamites indicate rapid sedimentation, alternating with more tranquil periods of sedimentation, in an intermediate environment between the lower offshore (the distal Cruziana ichnofacies) and the fan-delta slope (below the wave base, the Zoophycos ichnofacies). The studied trace fossils and palynological data indicate that marine conditions in the Wałbrzych area in the Mississippian prevailed locally until the early Sepukhovian.

Diaspora, migration, and the sciences: a new integrated perspective.

The study of human migration since the Bronze Age is ready for a new view as archeological studies incorporate ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis of human, animal and plant remains, pathogens and the systematic use of big data. Prior archeology revolutions occurred with the advent of radiocarbon dating (1950s) and stable isotope analysis (1980s) and contributed to the understanding of who moved and when [1]. Using these methods, archeologists and historians sought to understand whether the few or the many contribute their ideas, genes or both to the creation of new communities, languages and material cultures or the transformation of existing ones. Future insights will be derived not only from the studies of texts, funerary inscriptions and practices, grave goods, settlement patterns, and stable isotope analysis of human, faunal and floral remains, but also from aDNA. On 3–7 September 2018, historians, archeologists, physical anthropologists, and geneticists subjected these methods to scrutiny at a conference at the Lorentz Center at Leiden University. Though their presentations and discussions, they agreed that a consilience view of human migration might be derived from comparative analysis [2]. Several takeaways were provided that can inform the genetics community.

On the subsistence types of the Xiantouling Culture

Abstract The Xiantouling Culture featured sand dune sites and shell midden (kitchen midden) sites. Through an analysis of the faunal and floral remains and tools unearthed from these sites, with the relevant unearthed pottery wares and paleo-environmental research results taken into account, it can be evidenced that the subsistence types of these sites were mainly plant gathering supplemented by fishing and hunting, instead of relying on marine resources. The subsistence type of the sand dune sites was mainly plant gathering and occasionally rice gathering or farming; that of the earlier kitchen madden sites was gathering freshwater shells, and that of the later ones was more relying on marine resources. From the late phase of Xiantouling Culture, the archaeological cultures in the coastal areas of southeastern China began to utilize marine resources in a large scale.

The Ancestral Caddo Ceramic Vessel and Vessel Sherd Assemblage from the Nawi haia ina Site (41RK170) in the Angelina River Basin, Rusk County, Texas

The Nawi haia ina site (41RK170), translated as “Our mother dwells below” (Mooney 1896:1096) in the Caddo language, contains habitation features and midden deposits from an ancestral Caddo residential occupation, as well as a small and spatially discrete cemetery (Perttula and Nelson 2003). These deposits date, based on the OxCal calibration of 11 C14 dates, between cal. A.D. 990-1190, A.D. 1185-1270, and A.D. 1297-1410 for the midden area and the Feature 2 burial, and between cal. A.D. 1432-1527 (see Selden and Perttula 2013) for the two investigated burials in the cemetery. The small cemetery appears to be contemporaneous as well as postdate the habitation deposits, and our excavations identified the extended burials of two adult Caddo women in reasonably good health. The excavations in the residential areas at the site documented a large midden, pit features, and post holes from one probable Caddo house, along with a large assemblage of utility ware and fine ware ceramics, the subject of this article. Also recovered were stemmed arrow points of Perdiz style and preforms, as well as expedient flake tools, and a smattering of lithic debris from tool manufacture. Faunal and floral remains indicate that the Caddo people here had a diverse diet that relied on deer, turtle, and small animals and birds, as well as maize, hickory, and walnut nuts. There was a heavy reliance on forest mast products, but the stable isotope analyses of the two adult burials indicates that maize comprised about 40-50 percent of the diet. These Caddo living, and buried, at the Nawi haia ina site, were part of a larger community living in the middle Sabine River basin.

New paleoparasitological investigations from the pre-inca to hispanic contact period in northern Chile

Paleoparasitological studies have demonstrated that changes in environment or culture are reflected in the patterns of parasitic infection diseases in populations worldwide. The advent of agriculture and animal domestication, with its accompanying reduction in human mobility and expanding population involves changes in or emergence of, parasites, the so-called first epidemiological transition. Cultural processes related to territory occupation contribute to both loss and acquisition of parasites. The archaeological site Lluta 57 in the Lluta Valley, Chile, provides a chronology of the transition from the pre-Inca or Late Intermediate Period (LIP), through the Late or Inca Period (LP), to the Hispanic Contact Period (HCP), providing the possibility of evaluating this epidemiological transition. The aim of this study was to conduct a paleoparasitological investigation of to gain insight into the dynamics of parasitism in Lluta people throughout the Inca expansion. Fourteen human coprolites from the three periods were rehydrated, submitted to spontaneous sedimentation, and examined by light microscopy for the presence of intestinal parasite eggs, pollen grains, and micro-remains. Eggs of four parasites: Enterobius vermicularis, Trichostrongylus sp., Trichuris sp., and Eimeria macusaniensis were recovered. Frequency, diversity, and number of parasite eggs per sample increased over the studied time period. Trichostrongylus sp. and E. macusaniensis were recorded in the region for the first time. Enterobius vermicularis eggs, absent in the LIP, were present as a hyper-infection in LP. The presence of E. macusaniensis is likely related to exploitation of llamas, which were used for food and transport and as sacrificial offerings. The paleobotanical analysis revealed ten families of pollen grains, as well as phytoliths and floral remains. In contrast to parasitological results, a diachronic pattern was not detected. Evolution of the settlements, with the advent of larger, more densely populated, villages, could have influenced the emergence and intensification of transmission of parasites in the region. The study showed that the Inca expansion influenced host-parasite-environment relationships in the Lluta Valley.

Anchoring the landscape: human utilization of the Cerro Gavilán 2 rockshelter, Middle Orinoco, from the Early Holocene to the present

Abstract Initial archaeological investigations at Cerro Gavilán 2, a rockshelter located in the Bolívar State of Venezuela, reveal evidence for human activity that spans the Early Holocene to the present. This report summarizes the information obtained through surface collection, limited excavation, and documentation of the surface features and rock art in the cave. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C analysis established dates from excavated strata that range between 9250 ± 60 BP to 3440 ± 40 BP, and are associated with a unifacial flake technology and charred faunal and floral remains, whereas surface remains span the known ceramic sequence for the area. Rock art corresponds to distinctive superimposed styles that indicate continual repainting of the cave through time, serving to anchor the site to the landscape for multiple societies inhabiting the region. It is suggested that the shelter may have fulfilled different functions over time and a sequence of seasonal residential, ritual, and funerary activities is proposed. The rich cultural context found in Cerro Gavilán 2 contributes to advances in Amazonian archaeology that are redefining our knowledge of early developments and the complexity of human/environmental interactions in tropical America.

Amber from the Alpine Triassic of Lunz (Carnian, Austria): a classic palaeobotanical site

AbstractAmber from the Triassic (Carnian) of Lunz, a locality which has produced a rich and famous fossil flora, was analysed using UV‐B‐fluorescence, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR‐FTIR) and pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectroscopy (Py‐GC‐MS). The amber is classified as a class Ib resinite based on its chemical composition, which is characterized by bicyclic products derived from a regular labdatriene structure and the absence of succinic acid. The presence of diterpenoids and absence of triterpenoids is clear evidence of a gymnosperm origin for the Lunz amber, and the prevalence of sesquiterpenoids and diterpenoids point to a conifer family as a possible botanical source. In search of amber attached to identifiable floral remains we have screened new and historical collections of the macroflora from a number of localities of the Lunz area using UV‐B, and describe a striking yellow UV‐B‐fluorescence of cuticles of pteridosperms, ginkgophytes and conifers. This varies with the diagenetic state of the sediment and may be lost altogether. Detectable amounts of fluorescent compounds were observed in gymnosperm taxa, but not in any ferns and only very weakly in horsetails. This underlines that fluorescent compounds are derived from gymnosperm plants, mostly likely arising secondarily from cyclic hydrocarbons by desaturation during diagenesis as a parallel process in amber as well as in cuticles.

For the birds — An environmental archaeological analysis of Byzantine pigeon towers at Shivta (Negev Desert, Israel)

Pigeon rearing was an integral part of the agricultural regime that dominated the Negev region in Israel throughout the Roman and Byzantine periods. Dozens of structures have been documented that relate to the raising of pigeons and the exploitation of their dung as a fertilizer as is attested in the literary sources (Pliny, Columella and Varro). Excavation of a dovecote near Shivta produced large quantities of pigeon dung and sediments. The material recovered was processed for floral remains (both macro and micro) and archaeozoological remains. We present a holistic look at pigeon diet and local environmental conditions in the Byzantine Negev through the archaeobotanical remains. Demographic and morphometric analysis of size and shape of the pigeon bones refine our understanding of pigeon species that were bred in antiquity as well as inform on their life-histories. This integrated examination from an agro-archaeological perspective illustrates the complexity of desert agriculture.

Urban political ecology in late prehistory: New evidence from El Purgatorio, Peru

One of archaeology's greatest strengths is its reliance on interdisciplinary collaboration and the utilization of multiple lines of evidence to inform archaeological interpretation. For example, through an examination of faunal and floral remains, production and storage facilities, and the isotopic analysis of human skeletal remains one can develop a model for urban political ecology in ancient cultures. In this case study, the political ecology of the Casma capital city, El Purgatorio, Peru, is investigated in order to inform our interpretations and conclusions regarding Casma political, economic and social organization. The results indicate that Casma political ecology was firmly based in coastal resources and oriented towards supporting state-sponsored feasting and ritual activities, suggestive of a largely elite-controlled redistributive economy. In contrast to previous models characterizing this time period as one of factionalism and environmental stress, the data suggest that coastal cultural adaptations produced an era of widespread political and economic stability.

The role of quartz in Neolithic lithic traditions: a case study from the Thornhill Early Neolithic palisaded enclosure, Co. Londonderry, Northern Ireland

The role of quartz in Neolithic lithic traditions: a case study from the Thornhill Early Neolithic palisaded enclosure, Co. Londonderry, Northern Ireland

Comparing subsistence strategies in different landscapes of North China 10,000 years ago

A recent switch in the study of the beginning of agriculture is to demonstrate the increasingly closer interaction between people and the landscape and how this would have played a crucial role in the transition to agriculture. Understanding the palaeo-ecology of the local environments at key sites and its relationship with subsistence strategies is critical to an improved appreciation of such interactions. This article examines macro- and micro-plant remains discovered at two important sites in North China, both dated to around 10,000 cal. yr BP. These two sites, Zhuannian and Nanzhuangtou, are located on the terrace of the Bai River in the Yan Mountains and next to Baiyangdian Lake on the piedmont of the Taihang Mountains, respectively. The floral remains at these two sites provide a great opportunity to examine (1) post-Pleistocene subsistence strategies, (2) the increasing consumption of millets and grassy plants and its significance and (3) the intra-regional diversity in food exploitation and its relationships with local environments. While the macro-plant remains at Nanzhuangtou indicate the importance of aquatic plants in the palaeo-diet, those at Zhuannian suggest a tendency of exploiting tree plants. This significance of these diversified plant food exploitation strategies by the last hunter-gatherers should be paid more attention in future research. Our data also once again confirm the importance of millet consumption to these hunter-gatherers on the eve of millet domestication.

Lauraceous Flowers from the Eocene of Vancouver Island:Tinaflora beardiaegen. et sp. nov. (Lauraceae)

Premise of research. Twenty-one permineralized fossil flowers assignable to Lauraceae from the Eocene Appian Way locality on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, provide important anatomical and morphological data for interpreting evolutionary patterns in this diverse magnoliid family.Methodology. Consecutive anatomical sections were prepared using the cellulose acetate peel technique. Morphology and anatomy of the flowers were determined from anatomical sections, and three-dimensional reconstructions were rendered from serial sections using the software Amira.Pivotal results. Fossil flowers with oil bodies, trichomes, pollen, ovary anatomy, and other characters have allowed for the reconstruction of actinomorphic, pedicellate, and trimerous flowers with tepals in two whorls adnate to a shallow hypanthium. Nine fertile stamens occur in three whorls, the innermost of which bears paired glandular appendages, and a fourth whorl of sagittate staminodes surrounds the carpel. Anthers are tetrasporangiate. Stamens of the two outer whorls have median pollen sacs that are shorter than the two marginal pollen sacs. Third-whorl stamens have median pollen sacs that are longer than the marginal pollen sacs. Anthers of the first and second whorls are introrse, while the third-whorl anthers are extrorse. The fossil flowers have diagnostic characters of Lauraceae and are compared to flowers of extinct and extant taxa.Conclusions. The Eocene floral remains are assigned to Tinaflora beardiae gen. et sp. nov. We infer some aspects of floral biology based on different stages of development preserved among the fossils. The combination of well-preserved floral organs and in situ pollen is rare in the fossil record, allowing T. beardiae to expand the diversity of lauraceous floral morphology and provide further evidence for an Eocene radiation of the family in Laurasia.