🦴Intro to Archaeology Unit 9 – Archaeobotany and Animal Remains

What's This Unit All About?

• Archaeobotany and zooarchaeology study plant and animal remains from archaeological sites to understand past human-environment interactions
• Provides insights into ancient diets, subsistence strategies, agriculture, domestication, and environmental conditions
• Interdisciplinary field combines archaeology, biology, ecology, and anthropology
• Helps reconstruct past landscapes, climates, and human adaptations to changing environments
• Offers a long-term perspective on human-environment relationships and their sustainability
  • Informs current debates on biodiversity conservation, climate change, and food security
• Complements other archaeological evidence (artifacts, structures) to provide a more comprehensive understanding of past societies
• Requires specialized knowledge of plant and animal anatomy, taxonomy, and ecology

Key Concepts and Definitions

• Archaeobotany (paleoethnobotany): the study of plant remains from archaeological contexts
• Zooarchaeology (archaeozoology): the study of animal remains from archaeological contexts
• Macroremains: larger plant and animal remains visible to the naked eye (seeds, bones)
• Microremains: microscopic plant and animal remains requiring magnification (pollen, phytoliths)
• Taphonomy: the study of how organisms decay and become fossilized or preserved
  • Considers factors such as burial environment, decomposition, and post-depositional processes
• Domestication: the process of human selection and genetic modification of plants and animals for specific traits
• Subsistence strategies: the ways in which humans obtain food and other resources from their environment
  • Includes hunting, gathering, fishing, farming, and pastoralism
• Paleoecology: the study of past ecosystems and their interactions with human societies

Methods and Techniques

• Flotation: a method for recovering plant remains from soil samples using water separation
  • Light fraction (charred seeds, chaff) floats while heavy fraction (stones, ceramics) sinks
• Sieving: passing soil samples through a series of nested screens to separate plant and animal remains by size
• Microscopy: using optical or scanning electron microscopes to examine microremains and surface features
• Morphological analysis: studying the physical characteristics of plant and animal remains to identify taxa and infer ecological or cultural significance
• Quantification: counting, weighing, or measuring the abundance and diversity of plant and animal remains
  • Enables statistical comparisons within and between sites or time periods
• Geochemical analysis: using techniques such as stable isotope analysis or trace element analysis to infer diet, migration, or environmental conditions
• Experimental archaeology: conducting controlled experiments to replicate past human behaviors or taphonomic processes
  • Helps interpret archaeological remains and test hypotheses

Types of Plant and Animal Remains

• Seeds: reproductive structures of plants that can indicate domestication, cultivation, or wild gathering
  • Grains (wheat, barley, rice), legumes (beans, lentils), and fruits (grapes, olives) are common examples
• Wood: can provide information on past vegetation, fuel use, and construction practices
  • Charcoal is often preserved in archaeological contexts
• Pollen: microscopic grains produced by flowering plants that can be used to reconstruct past vegetation and climate
• Phytoliths: microscopic silica bodies formed within plant cells that can survive after the organic material has decayed
  • Can indicate the presence of specific plant taxa or plant parts (leaves, stems)
• Bones: the most common type of animal remain found in archaeological sites
  • Can indicate species, age, sex, size, and health of animals consumed or used by humans
• Teeth: can provide information on animal diet, age, and environmental conditions through wear patterns and isotopic analysis
• Shells: the hard exoskeletons of mollusks can indicate marine or freshwater resource exploitation
  • Can also be used as tools, ornaments, or currency

Preservation and Recovery

• Charring: the most common form of plant preservation in archaeological contexts
  • Occurs when organic material is exposed to high temperatures in a low-oxygen environment
• Waterlogging: preservation of plant and animal remains in permanently wet or anaerobic conditions
  • Bogs, wells, and shipwrecks are examples of waterlogged contexts
• Mineralization: the replacement of organic material with inorganic minerals, often in the form of calcium phosphate or calcium carbonate
  • Can preserve delicate tissues such as leaves or fish scales
• Desiccation: the preservation of organic material through rapid drying in arid environments
  • Deserts, caves, and rock shelters are examples of desiccated contexts
• Freezing: the preservation of organic material in permafrost or glacial ice
  • Can preserve soft tissues, hair, and stomach contents of animals
• Sampling strategies: the methods used to collect plant and animal remains from archaeological sites
  • Includes judgmental sampling (targeting specific contexts) and systematic sampling (using a grid or transect)
• Contamination: the introduction of modern plant or animal material into archaeological contexts
  • Can occur during excavation, storage, or analysis and must be carefully controlled

Analysis and Interpretation

• Taxonomic identification: determining the genus or species of plant and animal remains based on morphological characteristics
  • Requires reference collections and comparative anatomy knowledge
• Quantitative analysis: measuring the abundance, diversity, and distribution of plant and animal remains within and between contexts
  • Can indicate changes in subsistence strategies, environmental conditions, or social organization over time
• Taphonomic analysis: examining the physical and chemical changes that plant and animal remains undergo after deposition
  • Can help distinguish between natural and cultural processes of accumulation and modification
• Spatial analysis: mapping the distribution of plant and animal remains within a site or region
  • Can indicate activity areas, refuse disposal patterns, or trade networks
• Paleoecological reconstruction: using plant and animal remains to infer past environmental conditions such as climate, vegetation, and soil
  • Requires knowledge of the ecological preferences and tolerances of different taxa
• Cultural interpretation: using plant and animal remains to infer past human behaviors, beliefs, and social structures
  • Can indicate food preferences, cooking practices, ritual offerings, or status differences

Real-World Applications

• Agriculture and food security: studying the origins, spread, and intensification of agriculture and its impact on human societies and environments
  • Can inform current debates on sustainable farming practices, crop diversity, and food sovereignty
• Biodiversity conservation: using archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological data to reconstruct past biodiversity and its response to human activities and climate change
  • Can guide conservation priorities and management strategies for threatened species and habitats
• Climate change adaptation: examining how past human societies adapted to environmental changes such as droughts, floods, or sea-level rise
  • Can provide insights into the resilience and vulnerability of different subsistence strategies and social systems
• Cultural heritage management: incorporating plant and animal remains into the interpretation and presentation of archaeological sites and museums
  • Can engage the public in understanding the long-term history of human-environment interactions and their relevance to contemporary issues
• Forensic science: applying archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological methods to modern crime scenes or mass graves
  • Can help identify victims, reconstruct events, or estimate time since death

Challenges and Limitations

• Preservation bias: the differential preservation of plant and animal remains based on their physical and chemical properties
  • Can lead to the overrepresentation of hard, dense, or carbonized materials and the underrepresentation of soft, fragile, or organic materials
• Recovery bias: the differential recovery of plant and animal remains based on the methods and techniques used
  • Can lead to the overrepresentation of large, heavy, or dense materials and the underrepresentation of small, light, or fragile materials
• Identification bias: the differential identification of plant and animal remains based on the knowledge, skills, and reference collections available
  • Can lead to the overrepresentation of well-studied or easily identifiable taxa and the underrepresentation of rare or poorly known taxa
• Quantification bias: the differential quantification of plant and animal remains based on the units and measures used
  • Can lead to the overestimation or underestimation of the importance or significance of different taxa or contexts
• Interpretation bias: the differential interpretation of plant and animal remains based on the assumptions, expectations, and theoretical frameworks of the researchers
  • Can lead to the overemphasis or underemphasis of certain factors or processes in explaining past human-environment interactions
• Interdisciplinary collaboration: the need for archaeobotanists and zooarchaeologists to work closely with other specialists such as archaeologists, geologists, and ecologists
  • Can be challenging due to differences in methods, terminology, and research questions
• Ethical considerations: the need to respect the cultural and spiritual significance of plant and animal remains to descendant communities and stakeholders
  • Can involve issues of ownership, repatriation, and consultation in the excavation, analysis, and interpretation of archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological data