Does phytolith analysis of archaeological soil thin sections account for archaeobotanical data?

Summary

Whilst phytoliths are plant microfossils, due to their formation process they differ markedly from any other plant remains. Consequently, their incorporation within archaeological deposits relies on specific taphonomical processes. It is here assumed the phytolith analysis of archaeological soil thin sections allows to document these processes and as such to discriminate between in- and exsitu phytoliths. However and accordingly to the context you consider, as such analysis do not involve any concentration of the phytoliths, one needs to question how far such analysis are reliable in terms of spectra composition. Present contribution intends to explore this issue.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• The study of biological microremains as a tool for reconstructing paleoenvironment in human transition periods

Keywords

Spatial Coverage