Archaeological Starch

Abstract

Abstract:This article reviews evidence of how starch granules associated with archaeological artefacts provide an insight into the use of plants by our ancestors for food, medicines and cultural activities. The properties of starch relevant to archaeological contexts, methods for examining ancient starch and the types of environmental conditions that would promote survival of starch granules over hundreds of thousands of years as part of the archaeological record, are considered. Starch granules identified in dental calculus are clear indicators of the individual having consumed starchy food as part of the diet. However, surviving starch granules may be only a tiny fraction of those consumed over a lifetime and not necessarily representative of foods that were in the diet. A hypothesis, based on a combination of archaeological, physiological and genetic evidence, that plant foods containing high quantities of digestible starch were essential for the evolution of the modern human phenotype, is discussed.

Microscopic Analysis of Starch Grains and its Applications in the Archaeology of the Stone Age

“…In the pipetting method a small quantity of distilled water is placed directly onto the surface of the examined object ( Figure 3), though the place needs to be carefully selected. The most promising locations for starch grain conservation are scratches and fissures on the surfaces of various objects, or pores in the structure of dishes (Messner at al., 2008, Li et al, 2013Pagán-Jiménez et al, 2015, Copeland, Hardy, 2018. The water drop containing the residues is collected by the pipette, from which it is possible to create a sample for microscopic analysis.…”

“…The microscopic sample can then be created (Messner at al., 2008;Marcadert et al, 2007). These techniques can, of course, be combined: it is possible to point-collect samples with the pipette and subsequently extract residues from the whole object in the ultrasonic bath (Lantos et al, 2015;Yang et al, 2015;Copeland, Hardy, 2018).…”

“…This material also contains other components such as organic materials or chemical components. It is a rich source of the tracks left by an ancient life style (Leclerc et al, 2018, Copeland, Hardy, 2018Eerkens et al, 2018). Calculus must be carefully pulled down onto metal foil.…”

Pleistocene dental calculus: Recovering information on Paleolithic food items, medicines, paleoenvironment and microbes

“…Each item of starchy food eaten is likely to have contained billions of granules so that the numbers of starch granules ingested in a lifetime by an individual would be immense. As only an extremely small proportion of the material that passes through the mouth becomes embedded in dental calculus, recovered starch granules are not representative of diet .…”

Exaggerated expectations in ancient starch research and the need for new taphonomic and authenticity criteria

“…lack of a plausible explanation for the millennial-scale survivability of a biochemically degradable polymer, 7. difficulty in authentication, and 8. uncertainty surrounding taxonomic identification (Copeland and Hardy 2018;Mercader et al 2018aMercader et al , 2018b.…”