The Archaeological Potential of North American Fungal Microfossils

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Advances in Macrobotanical and Microbotanical Archaeobotany" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Fungi are ubiquitous across diverse landscapes and play critical roles in human societies, influencing global foodways, land use, and economies. In North America, the ethnographic works of various Indigenous groups document the significance of fungi as dietary items, medicine, fire tinder, and more. Despite their demonstrated importance, fungi are often overlooked in relevant archaeological literature due to the rare circumstances in which they are preserved. In this study, we report advancements on an experimental methodology that aims to develop protocols for identifying fungi in the archaeological record through the isolation and description of fungal microfossils (mycoliths).

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Advances in Macrobotanical and Microbotanical Archaeobotany

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 51869