Archaeobotany

Archaeobotany studies plant remains recovered from archaeological sites to reconstruct past human activity, environments, diets, and plant use.

Macrobotanical Remains: Plant remains visible without a microscope, including seeds, wood, fruits, and leaves. Seeds and wood are common archaeological finds whose identification anchors many analyses.
Flotation (archaeology): A technique that separates small archaeological remains from sediment using water and density differences. Flotation recovers charred seeds that ordinary excavation and sieving often miss.
Archaeology of Food: The study of food production, preparation, distribution, and consumption through archaeological evidence. Seeds and fruits show which foods people gathered, stored, and consumed.
Neolithic Revolution: The widespread shift in parts of the world from foraging toward farming and settled life. Plant remains document how cultivation developed unevenly across regions and generations.
Phytolith: A microscopic silica body formed in plant tissue that can persist after the plant decays. Phytoliths preserve evidence where fragile plant tissues have disappeared.
Seed Morphology: The study of seed form and structure, including traits used to distinguish plant taxa. Seed shape and surface features help identify species and domestication traits.
Plant Domestication: The evolutionary process by which human selection changes wild plants into crops adapted to cultivation. Changes in seed size and form can mark the transition to domesticated crops.
Broomcorn Millet: A drought-tolerant cereal crop domesticated in northern China and cultivated across Eurasia. Its remains trace early farming and crop exchange across northern Eurasia.
Pollen Analysis: The study of fossil pollen to reconstruct past vegetation and environmental change. Pollen assemblages help distinguish local landscape change from plant use at a site.
Archaeobotanical Quantification: Methods for counting or measuring plant remains to compare assemblages and interpret their composition. Counts and densities help distinguish abundant crops from occasional contaminants.

Linked from 21 pages