starch grain analysis (Other Keyword)
1-12 (12 Records)
The analysis of starch grains from the Xijincheng site showed that most of the starch was from barley (Hordeum spp.) which accounted for about 70% of the total starch grains. Other starches included foxtail millet (Setaria italica), broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum), sorghum (Sorghum spp.) and a small amount of starch grains from Leguminosaes and root tuber plants. Combined with the analytical results of carbonized remains, we conclude that ancient Xijincheng people adopted the pattern of...
Big Plans for Small Pots: Development of an Organic Residue Analysis Protocol for Ancient Wari Miniature Wares (2017)
Excavations from the Monqachayaq sector of the site of Huari uncovered an impressive burial that contained over 300 miniature vessels. The vessels were offered by a people known as the Wari (c. A.D. 600 – 1100), an ancient culture thought to be responsible for one of the Andes first great empires. Even more remarkable, the vessels retained the desiccated remains of their contents. The anthropological insight that can be gained has direct implications for a better understanding of Wari practices...
From Frontier to Forefront: Microbotanical Evidence of Early Holocene Horticulture in the Middle Cauca Valley, Colombia (2015)
Archaeological research in the Middle Cauca region of Colombia has identified significant human presence during the early to middle Holocene (10,600-3600 uncal BP), associated with lithic technology focused on plant processing (e.g. handstones, milling stone bases, and "hoes"). Starch residue analysis on these tools has documented the early availability and use of several domesticates; both exogenous, such as maize (Zea mays) and manioc (Manihot esculenta), and possibly indigenous, such as...
Games and foodstuffs at Chichen Itza: Relating patolli and starch grains at Structure 2D6 (2015)
Strucuture 2D6 is a gallery-patio type building situated within Chichen Itza’s site core right north of the Temple of the Warriors and the Temple of the Big Tables. Its gallery was excavated in 2009 and discoveries included a C-shaped bench following the buildings walls with just one exception – an altar right next to the passage that leads to the patio – as well as several column caches and a possible sacrificial stone. The removal of roof debris also freed up a well-preserved stucco floor that...
Insights into the Context, Mode, and Timing of Potato Domestication through Microfossil and Ground Stone Analyses at Jiskairumoko in the Western Titicaca Basin (2015)
The data presented in this poster provide novel and direct microfossil evidence for the exploitation of potato (Solanum tuberosum) approximately 5000 years ago at Jiskairumoko, an early village site in the south-central Andes. In the Andes, elucidating the trajectory of potato domestication is central to an overall understanding of the development of agriculture, as this crop was perhaps one of the most important of the autochthonous highland Andean suite. Nevertheless, efforts to elucidate the...
Microscopic Leftovers: Exploratory Starch Grain Analysis on Ceramic Vessels from the Shangshan Culture, China. (2017)
This paper will outline trends observed in pottery technology and dietary practices of the early Holocene Shangshan Culture (11,400 to 8400 cal. B.P.) in the lower Yangtze Valley, China. The Shangshan people produced some of the earliest known fine ware, and it is hypothesized that communities engaged in the low-level production of rice, which began the process of domesticating this crucial cereal. To date, the nature of pottery use and rice consumption at Shangshan sites remains partially...
New Evidence for Late Classic Maya Food Processing at Xunantunich, Belize: Preliminary Results of Starch Grain Analysis (2016)
At Xunantunich, Belize, thousands of worked chert bladelets were found in Late to Terminal classic deposits near residences in Groups D and E. Initially, these implements were thought to represent tools used in craft production of slate or other materials. However, little crafting debris or debitage was encountered within deposits where the tools were recovered. Edge-wear analysis suggests the tools were used on organic material, either hardwood or softer materials like tubers. Starch grain...
Putting Archaeobotany Under the Microscope: A Case Study for Increased Use of Starch-Grain Residue Analysis on the North Coast of Peru (2015)
Due to the arid environment and subsequent excellent preservation on the north coast of Peru, evidence obtained from macrobotanical remains here has been the primary sources of information on plant use. However, despite the richness of the macrobotanical record, the combination of arid conditions and the nature of many plants, such as potatoes and beans – which are consumed in their entirety – macrobotanical remains can only tell us so much. In this paper, we discuss some methodological issues...
Re-evaluating the Earliest Evidence for Wild Potato Use in South-Central Chile (2018)
The earliest evidence of wild potato use anywhere in the world comes from Monte Verde (southern Chile), where tuber fragments were recovered from hearths that directly date to 14,500 cal B.P. Those tubers were tentatively assigned to a wild potato species (Solanum maglia) based on their starch granule morphology, which, according to Ugent et al., could be distinguished from the granule morphology of the domesticated potato (S. tuberosum). Recently, that identification has been called into...
Ritual and Domestic Plant Use on the Southern Pacific Coast of Mexico: A Starch Grain Study of the Formative to Classic Period Transition at Izapa (2018)
In southern Mesoamerica, the transition from the Formative period to Classic period (100 B.C.- A.D. 400) was a time of population decline, cessation of monumental construction, and the abandonment of many sites. Environmental explanations such as drought and volcanic activity have been proposed as potential trigger factors for the widespread collapse at the close of the Formative period. Current evidence suggests that residents of the early capital of Izapa, located on a piedmont environmental...
Starch Grain Analysis of Bedrock Mortars in California: Implications to Our Understanding of California Prehistory (2017)
Starch grain analysis is a growing field in California archaeology, with the potential to significantly add to our understanding of prehistoric peoples. Using a non-destructive extraction method for field sampling bedrock mortars, I was able to extract microscopic plant residues from the mortar surface for analysis. The subsequent identifications were made using my ethnographically-informed comparative collection of modern native plants. The results of this research indicate that the function of...
Starch Grain Analysis of Late Pleistocene–Early Holocene Coprolites and Ground Stone from Two Northern Great Basin Rockshelters (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Hearths, Earth Ovens, and the Carbohydrate Revolution: Indigenous Subsistence Strategies and Cooking during the Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene in North America" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Recent macrobotanical analyses of late Pleistocene rockshelters in the Great Basin have shown that plants have always made up a portion of Indigenous peoples’ diets. This is despite a relative lack of ground stone...