Microbotanical Remains Research Articles

Bringing together macro- and micro-botanical remains in Bronze Age Cyprus: The cases of Alambra-Kato Lakkos and Agios Sozomenos-Ampelia

The integrated analysis of macrobotanical and microbotanical remains has the potential to contribute toward a holistic reconstruction of the interactions of past humans and plants at regional and interregional levels. This paper focuses on the Bronze Age in Cyprus and specifically, on the processing, storage and consumption of plants and plant-based foods, through the study of carbonized seeds and starch granules. The selected samples come from the Bronze Age sites of Agios Sozomenos-Ampelia and Alambra-Kato Lakkos. For the site of Agios Sozomenos-Ampelia, the archaeobotanical material derives from contexts connected with domestic and storage activities dating to the Late Cypriot period (ca. 1340–1200 BCE). All the potsherds originate from pithoi, and therefore are closely connected to food storage. The archaeobotanical samples from Alambra-Kato Lakkos derive from funerary contexts and have been collected from the interior of ceramic grave goods, such as cooking pots, bowls and jugs dating from the Early Cypriot III to the Middle Cypriot II periods (ca 2000–1700 BCE).

Integrating spatial analyses and microbotanical remains: A methodological approach for investigating plant processing activities and domestic spaces at Neolithic Çatalhöyük

In archaeology, the study of past plant processing activities in domestic spaces has hitherto relied greatly on the observed distribution of macrobotanical and artefactual remains. However, the surfaces where such activities took place can themselves preserve microscopic remains, potentially traceable to the activity that originated them. This paper presents new aspects of plant-related tasks, and the use of living space, at household level, in Neolithic Çatalhöyük through spatial analyses of phytoliths and starch grains recovered from two house floors. Results have revealed plant-related tasks such as crop processing, the use of plant-based crafts, and the management and culinary use of wild resources previously unrepresented in the archaeobotanical assemblage. These distinctive uses of vegetal resources in domestic spaces identified through microbotanical remains have shed light on new complex aspects of household social organisation in one of the earliest farming communities in Western Asia.

Botanical resources and pre-Columbian subsistence in Nuevo Corinto, Costa Rica

Archaeobotanical studies are rare in Costa Rica, which has limited the knowledge regarding the management of natural resources and foodways, sociopolitical differences, ethnicity, ritual practices, and more. The present study analyzed the vegetation changes at the Nuevo Corinto archaeological site (300–1200/1300 CE). In Mound-01, a stratigraphic profile was sampled to recover phytolith microbotanical remains. The archaeobotanical evidence was first described according to the morphological attributes and identified to taxonomical affiliation. Taxa abundances were correlated with construction features (occupation floors or construction fills), and archaeological phases (La Selva, La Union, La Cabaña). A total of 35 morphotypes and 16 vegetation taxa were identified and comprised a variety of grasses, palms, herbs, trees, and crops. Although the taxa diversity was similar throughout the three archaeological phases, the data showed different patterns between the occupation floors and the construction fills. These variations were related to changes in vegetation abundance, richness, and plant uses. The phytolith results suggest the continuous management of botanical resources at Nuevo Corinto for over a thousand years. The occupation floors illustrated the change of construction materials through time. Similarly, the construction fills indicated the vegetation patterns regarding the exploitation of wild and domesticated plants.

Plant resource diversity in the ethnobotanical record of precolonial Puerto Rico: Evidence from microbotanical remains

We present new starch grain and phytolith data from two sites in Puerto Rico: Maisabel and HU-7. Our findings reveal a strong emphasis on the use of maize, followed by chile pepper and arrowroot in Early and Late Ceramic Age deposits. Manioc was rare, with nearly all manioc residues coming from Early Ceramic Age artifacts in the Maisabel site. Integrating both starches and phytoliths provides a more accurate view of plant use than if only one or the other of these classes of microfossils are studied. We then review previously reported microbotanical findings from the island to document the diversity of plant resources utilized by precolonial occupants of Puerto Rico and how commonly these resources occur. There is now a sufficient body of residue data available to allow new insights into precolonial agricultural economies of Puerto Rico. Applying ecological measures of diversity, richness, and evenness to microbotanical datasets for Puerto Rico reveal declines in diversity for both the initial and later colonizing populations of the island. These findings are consistent with expectations from agroecology, whereby productive domesticates are identified and over time exploited in greater proportions to other taxa, both wild and domesticated.

Identification of starch granules on ground stone tools exposed to fire

Ground stone tools used to process food are often associated with hearths and fire pits in archaeological sites. Proximity to cooking features frequently exposed them to fire as a condition of use and disposal. In what ways does burning affect these artifacts, especially microbotanical remains, such as starch granules? Although some studies address the impact of fire on starch-rich foods, there is virtually no research regarding starch granules preserved in ground stone tools. The current study examines changes in the morphology of starch granules embedded in ground stone tools before and after exposure to flames and heat from the combustion of wood. We found that a significant and measurable amount of intact and identifiable starch granules was recovered from all treated samples. However, the abundance of intact, identifiable granules diminished as tools were exposed to higher temperatures for longer periods of time.

New archaeobotanical evidence for Tolai hare (Lepus tolai) millets-consumption on the Loess Plateau of China

This study presents the results of a preliminary investigation on micro-botanical remains preserved on Tolai hare (Lepus tolai) teeth recovered from Yangjiesha, a site located on the north of the Loess Plateau in China, dated circa. 4900B.P. The microscopic analysis reveal that starch grains from Triticeae, millets and their wild relatives as well as wood tissue fragments were identified in dental residues This implies that, in the context of the intensive development of millet farming at about 5000B.P., hares at Yangjiesha may have been active inside or near the agricultural settlement areas and formed long-term interactions with humans against the new agricultural ecology of the north Loess Plateau.

Fremont Smoke Mixtures: Botanical Analyses of Pipes from Wolf Village, Goshen, Utah

Over several field seasons, ceramic and stone pipes were recovered from the Fremont site of Wolf Village (AD 1000-1100). Nine of the more complete pipes included residue and burned dottle that were analyzed for macrobotanical and microbotanical remains. Three were subjected to FTIR. These analyses represent the first Fremont pipes ever analyzed for botanical remains, and the results reported in this paper provide conclusions regarding possible smoke mixtures used by the Fremont. Contents of the pipes included remains of tobacco, plants from the Amaranthaceae family, maize fragments, grasses, and various fuel woods.

Early Maize (Zea mays) in the North American Central Plains: The Microbotanical Evidence

Artifacts, including ceramics, ground stone, and soil samples, as well as dental calculus, recovered from sites in the eastern North American central Plains were submitted to multiple laboratories for analysis of microbotanical remains. Direct accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) dates of 361–197 cal BC provide evidence for the earliest use of maize (Zea maysssp.mays) in this region. Squash (Cucurbitasp.), wild rice (cf.Zizaniaspp.), and palm (Arecaceae sp.) microremains were also found. This research adds to the growing evidence of the importance of microbotanical analysis in documenting plant use and in the identification of early maize. The combined data on early maize from the eastern Plains adds to our understanding of the timing and dispersal of this crop out of the American Southwest. Alternative explanations for the adoption and early use of maize by eastern central Plains communities include its value as a secondary resource, as an addition to an existing farming strategy, or as a component of Middle Woodland rituals.

Microbotanical residues for the study of early hominin tools

More than 2 million years ago in East Africa, the earliest hominin stone tools evolved amidst changes in resource base, with pounding technology playing a key role in this adaptive process. Olduvai Gorge (now Oldupai) is a famed locality that remains paramount for the study of human evolution, also yielding some of the oldest battering tools in the world. However, direct evidence of the resources processed with these technologies is lacking entirely. One way to obtain this evidence is through the analysis of surviving residues. Yet, linking residues with past processing activities is not simple. In the case of plant exploitation, this link can only be established by assessing site-based reference collections inclusive of both anthropogenic and natural residues as a necessary first step and comparative starting point. In this paper, we assess microbotanical remains from rock clasts sourced at the same quarry utilized by Oldowan hominins at Oldupai Gorge. We mapped this signal and analysed it quantitatively to classify its spatial distribution objectively, extracting proxies for taxonomic identification and further comparison with freestanding soils. In addition, we used blanks to manufacture pounding tools for blind, controlled replication of plant processing. We discovered that stone blanks are in fact environmental reservoirs in which plant remains are trapped by lithobionts, preserved as hardened accretions. Tool use, on the other hand, creates residue clusters; however, their spatial distribution can be discriminated from purely natural assemblages by the georeferencing of residues and statistical analysis of resulting patterns. To conclude, we provide a protocol for best practice and a workflow that has the advantage of overcoming environmental noise, reducing the risk of false positive, delivering a firm understanding of residues as polygenic mixtures, a reliable use of controls, and most importantly, a stronger link between microbotanical remains and stone tool use.

Dietary evidence from Central Asian Neanderthals: A combined isotope and plant microremains approach at Chagyrskaya Cave (Altai, Russia)

Neanderthals are known primarily from their habitation of Western Eurasia, but they also populated large expanses of Northern Asia for thousands of years. Owing to a sparse archaeological record, relatively little is known about these eastern Neanderthal populations. Unlike in their western range, there are limited zooarchaeological and paleobotanical studies that inform us about the nature of their subsistence. Here, we perform a combined analysis of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes on bone collagen and microbotanical remains in dental calculus to reconstruct the diet of eastern Neanderthals at Chagyrskaya Cave in the Altai Mountains of Southern Siberia, Russia. Stable isotopes identify one individual as possessing a high trophic level due to the hunting of large- and medium-sized ungulates, while the analysis of dental calculus also indicates the presence of plants in the diet of this individual and others from the site. These findings indicate eastern Neanderthals may have had broadly similar subsistence patterns to those elsewhere in their range.

Food practices of the first farmers of Europe: Combined use-wear and microbotanical studies of Early Neolithic grinding tools from the Paris Basin

Food practices have always been a key issue to reconstruct part of the cultural identities of past and present societies. In archaeology, the question of vegetal processing and consumption has generally been discussed through different, yet complementary lenses that include botanical remains and cooking pots. However, it has seldom been integrated in a combined approach. Our paper explores the characteristics and role of plant transformation in Early Neolithic contexts from the Paris Basin (5100–4900 BCE), by combining use-wear analysis of grinding tools and the study of microbotanical remains (starch grains and phytoliths). Our integrated approach reinforces the interpretations and reduces the methodological limitations that arise when each analysis is considered separately. It also proposes a more complex vision than initially expected regarding the uses and lifecycles of grinding tools in daily plant preparation. Together with the dominant processing of cereals and legumes, tubers and rhizomes appear to have been regularly ground on querns. Different steps in plants processing are also evident, such as dehusking, heating, and sprouting. Other clues point towards the transformation of bark and ferns, known for their varied medicinal properties. These results and related methodological issues support discussions regarding the possible conservatism or innovations in vegetal food practices of Early Neolithic farmers inhabiting a region located at the most westerly point of the Linearbandkeramik expansion during the final centuries of this first wave of Neolithic dispersal throughout the European continent.

Microbotanical evidence for the spread of cereal use during the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in the Southeastern Europe (Danube Gorges): Data from dental calculus analysis

Research increasingly suggests that natural and social environments shaped the Neolithic expansion of the farming niche into Europe. The Danube Gorges, on account of its position between the Mediterranean and more temperate regions and the presence of archaeological sites with continuous Mesolithic and Neolithic layers of occupation associated with vast burial grounds is ideal for studying the modality of Neolithization. Previous dietary stable isotope (carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur) studies in the Central Balkan area indicate that many Neolithic humans remained reliant on foraged aquatic resources in the Gorges. Until now, there is no unambiguous evidence of cereal consumption in this region. The possibility that the rich aquatic resources of the Danube river habitats within Central Balkans influenced diet and thus delayed uptake of Neolithic cultigens is unanswered. The extensive skeletal record from sites in the Danube Gorges (Central Balkans) with its long temporal sequence, provides the opportunity to reconstruct plant use during Mesolithic and the Neolithic. To assess when cereals and possibly cultivated plants spread to the region, we analysed the microbotanical remains (starch grains and phytoliths) entrapped in the dental calculus of 81 individuals dating from 9100 to 5500 cal BC, recovered from five sites in the Danube Gorges. This study marks the largest study of dental calculus from this period so far conducted. Added to this, we present new radiocarbon dates (n = 17), bone collagen stable isotope data (δ13C and δ15N; n = 5) and data on caries frequency. This dietary study identifies that the growing of crops commenced in the Early Neolithic circa 6000 cal BC and was brought by farming migrants of north-western Anatolian ancestry into the Danube Gorges. Despite bringing a Neolithic agro-pastoral subsistence practices and cultural novelties in the Gorges, these migrants and their descendants adopted some of the local dietary and cultural traditions, suggesting a mosaic pattern of Neolithization. The resulting data provides a better understanding of the tempo and spread of cereal agriculture practices and the role of cereals in the diet of Danube Gorges inhabitants.

From Storage to Disposal: a Holistic Microbotanical Approach to Domestic Plant Preparation and Consumption Activities in Late Minoan Gypsades, Crete

The analysis of microbotanical remains (starch grains and phytoliths) from food-related domestic contexts and artefacts has the potential to provide insights into daily plant preparation and consumption activities. In particular, pottery vessels offer an unparalleled comparative framework for the study of food preparation and consumption, since pottery is used for a variety of domestic food-related activities, including storage, processing and serving. This study illustrates the potential of microbotanical remains to provide a holistic approach to the plant food preparation and consumption cycle—from storage to disposal—through the analysis of starch grains and phytoliths from Late Minoan storage, cooking and serving vessels recently uncovered at the Knossian ‘neighbourhood’ of Lower Gypsades. The results show that starch grains and phytoliths are more abundant and diverse in cooking vessels, presumably reflecting a higher deposition of microbotanical remains as a result of the disturbance caused by cooking. The results further offer insights into Minoan storage and cooking practices at Gypsades, suggesting that cereals were stored de-husked in pithoi and, possibly, in palm leaf baskets, and later cooked together with non-staple plants. The virtual absence of microbotanical remains from serving vessels may be due to depositional factors and/or the fact that some of the vessels analysed in this study were used for serving/consuming liquids or animal products, and not plants.

Phytoliths from native plants and surface soils from the Upper Madeira river, SW Amazonia, and their potential for paleoecological reconstruction

Phytolith reference collections of plants and surface soils are a critical part of studies that use these microbotanical remains for archaeological and paleoecological reconstruction. In the archaeologically-rich region of the Upper Madeira river in Rondônia, Brazil, phytolith analysis is being applied in both on- and off-site contexts in order to shed light on human-environment interactions over a period that extends almost the entire Holocene. The present study brings together data on phytolith production patterns among 90 native species, representing 36 plant families, as well as 56 surface soil samples taken from underneath 11 monitored forest plots. Our discussion focuses on the comparison between the surface soil phytolith records and the above-ground floristic inventories, scrutinized considering the plant reference collection results. We found that the phytoliths of several species which produce diagnostic or potentially-diagnostic morphotypes were under-represented in the surface soils, including several understory herbs. While the phytolith assemblages from three forest types (palm, sororoca and dense forest) presented considerable overlap, in accordance with similarities in the floristic inventories, bamboo forest and different types of campinaranas were able to be distinguished based on their phytolith signatures.

Chronostratigraphy, Site Formation, and Palaeoenvironmental Context of Late Pleistocene and Holocene Occupations at Grassridge Rock Shelter (Eastern Cape, South Africa)

Grassridge rock shelter is located in the high elevation grassland foothills of the Stormberg Mountains in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. This places Grassridge at an important biogeoclimatic intersection between the Drakensberg Mountains, the South African coastal zone, and the interior arid lands of southern Africa. First excavated in 1979, the approximately 1.5 m stratigraphic sequence was divided into two major occupational components: a 50–70 cm thick Later Stone Age component dating between 7–6 ka and an underlying 50–80 cm thick Middle Stone Age component dated to 36 ka at the base. Here we present a reanalysis of the Grassridge stratigraphic sequence that combines new optically stimulated luminescence and radiocarbon age estimates with sedimentological and microbotanical analyses to evaluate site formation processes and the palaeoenvironmental context of human occupations. Results indicate a complex history of geogenic, anthropogenic, and biogenic inputs to the depositional sequence that are interspersed with pulsed human occupation from 43–28 ka, 13.5–11.6 ka, and 7.3–6.8 ka. Microbotanical remains indicate a cooler, drier grassland environment in MIS 3 that transitions to a warmer, moister grassland environment dominated by summer rainfall in the middle of MIS 1. The pulsed occupational sequence identified at Grassridge is characteristic of the Pleistocene and Holocene record across the greater high elevation grassland region of South Africa, which, based on comparison with other currently available evidence, seems linked to a complex system of forager mobility entwined with rapidly fluctuating palaeoenvironments across the last glacial to interglacial transition.

A study of phytoliths produced by selected native plant taxa commonly used by Great Basin Native Americans

Reference collections of phytoliths from plant taxa commonly used by the ancient inhabitants of an archaeological site are critical to researchers conducting analyses on these microbotanical remains. Phytoliths recovered from the site are compared to those in reference collections to make inferences about which taxa were being used, as well as where, why and how. This study presents one of the first reference collections of phytoliths from selected taxa likely to have been used by Native American peoples living in the Great Basin area. The results are presented as a list of taxa which we sampled, and that are known to have been used by these tribes, such as the Shoshone and Ute, with illustrations of the range of phytolith morphotypes produced by each taxon. Our hope is that this tool will prove to be a ready and valuable resource for any researchers conducting phytolith analysis at Great Basin Native American sites.

Anthracological reference collection of palms of the Atlantic Forest (sensu stricto) of southern Brazil

Comparative or taphonomic methods that help interpret and identify macro- and microbotanical remains based on reference collections have contributed significantly to expanding Brazilian archaeobotanical and archeological field methods. The present work had the objective of creating a carbonized carpological reference collection that emphasizes fruits from the family Arecaceae that occur in the Atlantic Forest (sensu stricto) of southern Brazil. To create the reference collection, six palm species native to the Atlantic Forest were selected that are widely distributed, occur on the coast of northeastern Santa Catarina and are found at innumerous archeological sites with the sambaqui typology. The selected species were Attalea dubia (Mart.) Burret, Bactris setosa Mart., Butia catarinensis Noblick and Lorenzi, Euterpe edulis Mart., Geonoma schottiana Mart. and Syagrus romanzoffiana (Cham.) Glassman. To conduct the taphonomic tests, 10 fresh fruits (with the pericarp) of each species were selected and submitted to combustion in a muffle furnace set at 400°C and 600°C for 30, 45 and 60 minutes. Ten manually depulped fruits of each species were submitted to the same treatment. The results demonstrated different rates of fragmentation among the carbonized fruits of the selected palm species. The fruits of A. dubia were notable for their well-preserved morphological structures and became completely carbonized after six hours at 600°C in the furnace. Similar results were also found for the fruits S. romanzoffiana.

Shedding Light on the Nightshades (Solanaceae) Used by the Ancient Maya: a Review of Existing Data, and New Archeobotanical (Macro- and Microbotanical) Evidence from Archeological Sites in Guatemala

Numerous taxa within the Solanaceae family are economically important today, and for New World taxa such as chilies and tomatoes, their histories are particularly well documented. What remains less clear, however, is the extent of nightshade used by the ancient Maya. This article reviews the ethnographic, ethnohistoric, and archeological evidence of some of the major taxa in this large family, as well as providing new archeobotanical evidence in the form of macro- and microbotanical remains from Maya sites in northwestern Peten, Guatemala. This new evidence sheds additional light on the Solanaceae used by the ancient Maya in both domestic and ritual contexts. The absence of certain taxa in this family in the archeobotanical record of this region does not necessarily imply that these were not used in the past. Instead, it indicates that systematic collection of samples needs to be implemented if archeologists are to fully characterize past plant use among the ancient Maya.

Dental calculus indicates widespread plant use within the stable Neanderthal dietary niche

The ecology of Neanderthals is a pressing question in the study of hominin evolution. Diet appears to have played a prominent role in their adaptation to Eurasia. Based on isotope and zooarchaeological studies, Neanderthal diet has been reconstructed as heavily meat-based and generally similar across different environments. This image persists, despite recent studies suggesting more plant use and more variation. However, we have only a fragmentary picture of their dietary ecology, and how it may have varied among habitats, because we lack broad and environmentally representative information about their use of plants and other foods. To address the problem, we examined the plant microremains in Neanderthal dental calculus from five archaeological sites representing a variety of environments from the northern Balkans, and the western, central and eastern Mediterranean. The recovered microremains revealed the consumption of a variety of non-animal foods, including starchy plants. Using a modeling approach, we explored the relationships among microremains and environment, while controlling for chronology. In the process, we compared the effectiveness of various diversity metrics and their shortcomings for studying microbotanical remains, which are often morphologically redundant for identification. We developed Minimum Botanical Units as a new way of estimating how many plant types or parts are present in a microbotanical sample. In contrast to some previous work, we found no evidence that plant use is confined to the southern-most areas of Neanderthal distribution. Although interpreting the ecogeographic variation is limited by the incomplete preservation of dietary microremains, it is clear that plant exploitation was a widespread and deeply rooted Neanderthal subsistence strategy, even if they were predominately game hunters. Given the limited dietary variation across Neanderthal range in time and space in both plant and animal food exploitation, we argue that vegetal consumption was a feature of a generally static dietary niche.

A multi-proxy approach to archaeobotanical research: Archaic and Fremont diets, Utah

New analytical techniques in archaeobotany allow researchers to examine human plant use by developing interrelated, yet independent lines of evidence. Here we outline the results of a two-method archaeobotanical approach to investigate Archaic and Fremont Great Basin diets. We conducted both macro- and microbotanical (starch granule) analyses at nine archaeological sites located in central and southwestern Utah. Our results show that in contexts where macrobotanical remains are poorly preserved, the application of microbotanical methods can produce additional sets of information, thus improving interpretations about past human diets. In this study, macrobotanical remains represented seed-based dietary contributions, while microbotanical remains came primarily from geophytes. Results suggest largely overlapping diets for Archaic and Fremont residents of Utah.