To Screen or to Float?: Methodological Considerations for Archaeobotanists in Coastal Peru

Summary

In recent years, coastal Peru has seen an encouraging upwards trend in the number of archaeologists trained in the field of paleoethnobotany or archaeobotany. With growing numbers of practitioners in the field, it is crucial to remain vigilant of methodological concerns that are relevant not only to archaeobotanists as a whole, but particularly to those working in the unique environment of coastal Peru. In the interest of maximizing interpretative potential while maintaining the capability to run comparisons across multiple datasets, archaeobotanists need to be constantly mindful of ways to improve the methods and techniques we utilize when conducting our research. Issues of concern include sampling protocols, processing techniques, identification and counting procedures, and quantification. Archaeobotanists working in the dry, coastal region of Peru, for example, employ a variety of techniques in the processing of sediment samples for botanical remains that fall under the general categories of screening/sieving and flotation. The choice of a certain processing method alone can have a profound effect on the quantity and quality of botanical remains as well as an effect on the actual taxa recovered. This paper will present recent research on these issues using data collected from the North and South Coast of Peru.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Like Frejoles in a Pod: Examining the Current State of Paleoethnobotany in Peru   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage