Phytoliths (Other Keyword)
26-50 (62 Records)
The clash of Pueblo farmers and Spanish missionaries in central New Mexico marks the transition from prehistoric maize farming to the modern era along the Rio Grande River. The interaction between Native Americans and Spanish was not totally either peaceful or confrontational. The first church, built in the 1620s, was later burned during the Pueblo Revolt when Spanish were forced to leave, then rebuilt when relations improved. Four bricks from the new church (Mission de Nuestra Senora de los...
Micro-remains in Sediment as Indicators of Human Activity (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Plant microfossil analysis has been utilized for environmental reconstruction at numerous archaeological sites around the world; however, the process of preparing and examining samples is labor intensive, requiring skill and a large investment of time in order to manually obtain sufficient count numbers. Furthermore, observations based on microfossil...
Microarchaeology applied to foumier deposits: the use of phytoliths, spherulites and ash pseudomorphs as a tool for reconstruct livestock practices. (2016)
Fumier deposits are important sources of information to better understand past livestock practices. The Neolithic site of Los Husos II (Álava, Spain), in the upper Ebro Basin, is the oldest Basque Country site where livestock practices were detected dating to 6990-6760 cal B.P. Hence, the site offers a unique opportunity to study the adaptation of early livestock practices and their expansion to the western Pyreness, as the Ebro Basin is the main route by which the new economic system...
Mountains of Manure: Assessing the Botanical Potential of South Indian Neolithic Ashmounds (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Advances in Macrobotanical and Microbotanical Archaeobotany, Part II" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Neolithic of southern India is notable for features known as Ashmounds, large accumulations of fired and often vitrified cattle dung. First described in the late nineteenth century, the dung-based composition of these impressive features was clearly established by the mid-twentieth century. To date, however, no...
Neglected Root Crops of the Prehispanic Maya (2015)
Root crops represent a major lacuna in the archaeological record of the Maya area and discussions of prehispanic Maya foodways in general. Only a handful of exceptional cases furnish direct evidence for the exploitation of root crops. Most notably at Ceren, the recent discovery of entire fields dedicated to manioc cultivation suggests that maize was not the only agricultural staple in this village community. Researchers working throughout the humid tropics have employed microbotanical...
Neo-Assyrian Empire: Agriculture and Agricultural Strategies Based on Phytolith Analyses (2018)
The Neo-Assyrian empire is known as one of the major empires in the Ancient Near East. Ruling in Mesopotamia during the Iron Age, they had a well-organized agricultural system. In this paper, I will utilize phytolith analyses to investigate the impact of the Neo-Assyrian empire on agriculture and land-use. I will compare the elite-controlled agriculture with the crop choices of peasant farmers. It’s likely that the peasant farmers would have chosen more resistant and reliable types of plants for...
ood, Agricultural, and Environmental Risk Management during the Holocene in Mesopotamia (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Using new microbotanical phytolith evidence, this article discusses what strategies were implemented to manage factors affecting agricultural strategies and staple food during the Late Holocene in a dry climatic condition in the Late Holocene at the Neo-Assyrian large site of Peshdar Plain located in Kurdistan, Iraq, Northern Mesopotamia. Located in the...
Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction using Fossil Phytolith Assemblages at Pinnacle Point caves 13B and 5/6 during Middle Stone Age, Mossel Bay, South Africa (2015)
Climatic conditions played a key role in the evolution of modern human linage and South Africa has been considered, based on genetics and fossil evidence, a suitable area. South Africa hosts the smallest of all-known biomes (Fynbos), characterized by hyper diversity with high species richness and large presence of edible plants. We present the phytolith record from the archaeological sites Pinnacle Point caves 13B and 5/6 spanning from ∼160 to ∼50 ka. This study aims at reconstructing the past...
Palisades, Ponds, and House Gardens: Phytolith Analysis on the Functionality and Importance of a Ring Ditch in Llanos de Mojos, Southwestern Amazonia (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In Southwestern Amazonia, the seasonally flooding, anthropogenic landscapes of Llanos de Mojos may be associated with the domestication of several important crops such as manioc (Manihot esculenta), peanuts (Arachis spp.), peach palm (Bactris gasipaes), and chili pepper (Capsicum baccatum). These landscapes, which increased the productivity of the...
Party on the Plaza: Risk and Resilience in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century New Mexico (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Advances in Macrobotanical and Microbotanical Archaeobotany Part 1" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Spanish colonial efforts in New Mexico began in 1598 with the establishment of a capital in Santa Fe, as well as missions, ranches, and farms. Documents from the early colonial period (AD 1598–1680) are rife with colonists’ concerns about the New Mexican environment, indicating struggles at the household scale to...
Phytolith Analysis and Micromorphology of Neandertal Combustion Features at Roc de Marsal, SW France (2015)
Phytolith analysis can be used to investigate the relationship between hominins, plants, and environmental change. It has proven useful in understanding specific hominin behaviors (e.g., use of fire and fuel composition), and diachronic changes in plant species for paleoenvironmental reconstructions. The integration of phytolith analysis with soil micromorphology allows for an identification of the ways phytoliths were deposited in archaeological sites, and addresses both site formation...
Phytolith Analysis at Roc de Marsal, SW France (2016)
Phytolith analysis at Roc de Marsal, a Middle Paleolithic cave site, SW France, is used to investigate both environmental change and hominin behavior. Specifically, the aims include correlating phytolith types with the microenvironmental context of the site, and how these conditions changed diachronically. We also explore the pyrotechnological skills of Neanderthals at the site, broad patterns of plant acquisition and use, and spatial differentiation. Preliminary analysis of phytolith samples...
Phytolith analysis in Sernambetiba shell mound, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. (2016)
Phytoliths are an important evidence for archaeology to address the behavior of ancient human societies, specifically their relation with botanical contexts. As with any other archaeological material, it is important to assess the preservation of these silica structures, understanding the process of degradation and dissolution that affects them. One of the factors cited in the literature as responsible for the degradation of phytoliths is the alkaline condition of sediments. Humid tropical...
Phytolith Analysis of Samples from Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota (1980)
Seventy-six plant samples and forty sediment samples from voyageurs National Park were analyzed for phytoliths. Leaf, stem, root, inflorescence, and where possible, seed phytoliths were extracted from each plant sample as a key against which sediment phytoliths could be compared. All phytoliths were examined by light microscopy using a research petrographic microscope equipped with a Nomarski Differential Interference Contrast (DIC) system. Some phytoliths were also studied using a Scanning...
Phytolith Analysis of Sediments from Early Agricultural Fields at Las Capas, Arizona (2015)
Phytolith analysis of field sediments at the Early Agricultural site of Las Capas document a rich microfossil record of the plant communities that grew in farmed irragric soils and the local environment. Although irrigation water tapped from the Santa Cruz River carried a significant load of naturally derived phytoliths, the signature of cultivated and encouraged plants was clearly recognizable among the diverse identified genera and species. Maize is well-represented, but there is a strong...
Phytolith Analysis of Woodland Period Carbonized Food Residues from Block Island, RI (2018)
Due to poor preservation, Woodland-era plant resources in New England, both wild and cultivated, have long been poorly understood. Previous macrobotanical analyses have suggested that Woodland subsistence strategies for plant resources in New England are unique to the region, with further intra-regional variation between coastal and interior contexts. This paper presents a preliminary analysis of phytoliths extracted from carbonized food residues found on ceramic sherds from the Early Woodland...
Phytolith Assemblages as a Proxy for Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction in the Southern Caucasus (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Pleistocene Landscapes and Hominin Behavior in the Armenian Highlands" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Southern Caucasus is a biodiversity hotspot, encompassing a spectrum of environments from temperate forests to semidesert steppes. Having seen hominin occupation since 1.8 Ma, the region offers a unique opportunity to study the expansion and evolution of the genus Homo, as well as their interaction with the local...
Phytolith Processing Methods and the Affects upon Results (2015)
Biological microremains such as pollen, diatoms, starches, and phytoliths are invaluable data sources for reconstructing paleoenvironments and subsistence practices among human populations during times of technological transition. A primary goal of archaeological research is to use these remains to reconstruct the relationship between environment and technology. Phytoliths in particular allow us to reconstruct the specific flora that comprises the biome in a particular place and time....
Phytolithic Analysis of Site FxJj 20 AB (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Controlled fire could have significantly impacted hominin evolution, providing an adaptive release resulting in reduced teeth and gut size, and larger brains. Evidence of hominin controlled fire is sparse in the early Pleistocene archaeological record. These sites are usually in open-air contexts where taphonomic factors can obscure the identification of...
Phytoliths, Geochemistry and Ethnography: A Multi-method Approach for Interpreting the Neolithic Sites of WF16 and ‘Ain Ghazal (2018)
Understanding Neolithic sites in southwest Asia is often difficult because of the lack of preservation of organic remains and the effects of various taphonomic processes that alter the original record. It is, therefore, critical that we maximise the information that can be acquired from these sites. Here, we use an ethnographic approach to test the potential of using plant phytoliths and geochemistry to aid our interpretation of southwest Asian Neolithic sites. We sampled two Neolithic...
Plant Use and Deep Ecology in Colonial New Mexico (2018)
Understanding the interactions between people and the landscape has long been a concern of archaeologists working in the American Southwest. A particular emphasis of this research has focused on understanding the way pre-colonial Pueblos altered the landscape for agricultural production. More recent studies have worked to incorporate indigenous voices into scholarly understandings of the landscape. So far, less attention has been paid to the way Hispano communities in New Mexico experienced and...
Predicting Water Availability from Phytolith Assemblages of Finger Millet, Pearl Millet, and Sorghum (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Advances in Macrobotanical and Microbotanical Archaeobotany, Part II" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The interpretation of water management practices and the use of irrigation for agricultural intensification has been central to the archaeological debate. Until now no direct method has been presented for the discrimination of water availability for C4 cultivated crops, representing the main components of the...
Preliminary Phytolith Analysis at the John Hollister Site (2018)
This presentation will provide a preliminary phytolith analysis to address foodways and plant use at the John Hollister Site using samples taken from the site’s well-preserved filled cellars. Phytoliths provide a line of analysis that can reinforce and expand upon traditional macroscopic archaeobotanical analyses due to differences in the ways that seeds and phytoliths preserve. Initial phytolith analysis supports the macroscopic archaeobotanical findings that the people at the John Hollister...
Pueblo Agricultural Persistence and Innovation during Spanish Colonization (2022)
This is an abstract from the session entitled "New Avenues in the Study of Plant Remains from Historical Sites" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. This project investigates how (and to what extent) Pueblo people in the Rio Grande region of New Mexico adjusted their agricultural practices when confronted with Spanish colonization. The data collected for this project involved surveying the areas around multiple pre-contact and contact-era Pueblos to document...
Richard Cooke: Archaeologist, Colleague, and Friend Extraordinaire (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Unraveling the Mysteries of the Isthmo-Colombian Area’s Past: A Symposium in Honor of Archaeologist Richard Cooke and His Contributions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper discusses Richard Cooke’s career in the context of my professional and personal relationships with him. Over a more than 40-year period beginning with my first trip to Panama in 1979 as a graduate student I enjoyed the benefits of his...