![]() ![]() Developed to provide diachronic information about a region rather than one specific site, contemporary landscape and vegetation has become an integral part of these studies (e.g. It is important to mention archaeological survey as well as excavation. ![]() These were a combination of plant products that were traded across the eastern Mediterranean as well as those used for food on board the ship and included almond ( Amygdalus communis), olive ( Olea europaea), pomegranate ( Punica granatum), fig ( Ficus carica), grape ( Vitis vinifera), coriander ( Coriandrum sativum), and thorny burnet ( Sarcopoterium spinosum) used as dunnage (padding to keep the cargo in position in the ship’s hold) ( Haldane, 1993). For example, underwater excavation of the Late Bronze Age wreck discovered at Ulu Burun, off the coast of Turkey, yielded enormous quantities of organic materials ( Haldane, 1993 Pulak, 1998). Waterlogging also leads to greater preservation of organic remains, perhaps at its most exceptional in the case of shipwrecks ( Gorham and Bryant, 2001). Murray, 2000), including the dried flower garlands found in tombs such as that of Tutankhamun which included cornflowers ( Centurea cyanis) and mayweed ( Anthemis pseudocotula) ( Hepper, 2009). This is the process that allows spectacular survival of plant material in Egypt (e.g. Desiccation common to arid regions can preserve remains not usually found in the archaeological record such as fruits, flowers, leaves, and membranes ( Wilkinson and Stevens, 2008). Although archaeologists focus on the potential anthropogenic activities indicated by the plants, animal activity, erosion, deposition, and aeolian action can also all contribute to a site’s palaeobotanical record and must be considered prior to interpretation of the archaeological record.Įnvironmental conditions and the soil pH will affect the preservation and recovery of botanical remains. It is important to be aware of the taphonomic processes that can introduce plant material to any archaeological site. This ensures sufficient samples for producing statistically significant results as well as for applying a range of relevant analytical techniques to answer the research questions of the project. It is crucial that a sampling strategy be devised prior to excavation and in consultation with an archaeobotanist, although it can always be modified as the project progresses. ![]() Recovery rates of archaeobotanical evidence depend on both the strategy of the excavation and the environmental conditions of the site ( Box 1). The analysis of botanical remains from archaeological excavations is a three-step process: recovery, identification, interpretation ( Pearsall, 2000). The emphasis is on the Classical world of ancient Greece and Rome and their Bronze Age forerunners, as well as Egypt and the Near East, although palaeobotanical remains and the social practices they represent occur across the world. This article explores the techniques used by archaeologists to recover ancient botanical material, explains what can and cannot be recovered, and then discusses some of the key areas of research that have been approached using floral remains specifically. This has led to the rise of specialists within archaeology who focus on palaeobotany (palaeobotanists or archaeobotanists), although the corresponding increase in the resulting specialist analyses has contributed to a distinction between ‘science’ and ‘interpretation’ in perceptions and publications. It is only in the last 50 years, however, that archaeologists have truly realized the wealth of knowledge that can be gained from a careful collection and study of ancient botanical remains and have developed analytical techniques and research questions accordingly. ![]() During the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, archaeology fell under the broad umbrella of natural sciences, and by the start of the twentieth century, botanists, geologists, and zoologists were working with archaeologists to research a shared interest in the past ( Wilkinson and Stevens, 2008). Yet small and fragile plant remains can be every bit as valuable, if not more so, than these large, permanent structures in providing information about human life in the past. IntroductionĪrchaeology is more often associated with the discovery of tombs, temples, and palaces than with plants. Archaeology, flowers, food, gardens, palaeobotany, perfume. ![]()
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