Phytoliths and the Development of Agriculture

Summary

Investigations of rainforest archaeological sites from the Koombaloomba Dam environs in the NE Queensland Wet Tropics, have established a human presence here since the early Holocene (Cosgrove et al., 2007). These open sites have yielded abundant archaeological finds including excellent preservation of plant macro-remains in the form of wood charcoal and the carbonised shells of some toxic starchy economic plant species including Beilschmiedia bancroftii, the Yellow Walnut. Examination of the microfossil record from soils collected during excavation at Urumbal Pocket (a Eucalyptus pocket within the rainforest) and Goddard Creek (rainforest) has revealed an in situ record of phytoliths and, through part of these sequences, starch. The Urumbal Pocket excavations also yielded a small grindstone fragment from which starch grains were recovered. This paper presents the compiled phytolith and starch data and discusses the possible interpretation of site use and change through time as reflected in the plant microfossil record. Using recently developed analytical techniques for the analysis of starch we will explore the quantitative identification of starch to genera, and possibly species.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• ‘Siempre a la Vanguardia’: A Tribute to Dolores Piperno Contributions to the Origins and Spread of Agriculture   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

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