Evaluating the usefulness of phytoliths and starch grains found on survey artifacts

Hart, Thomas C.

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2011.06.034

Cited by 53 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…small recovered assemblages, 2. high contamination risk in both the field (Hart 2011;Laurence et al 2011;Dozier 2016;Mercader et al 2017) and the laboratory (Loy and Barton 2006;Crowther et al 2014;García-Granero et al 2016), 3. poor understanding of how plant-derived biomolecules and their often complex diagenetic products adsorb onto surfaces, 4. disparity in reporting standards,…”

Section: New Taphonomic Criteria and Authenticationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Mercader

Akeju

Brown

et al. 2018

FACETS

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Ancient starch research illuminates aspects of human ecology and economic botany that drove human evolution and cultural complexity over time, with a special emphasis on past technology, diet, health, and adaptation to changing environments and socio-economic systems. However, lapses in prevailing starch research demonstrate the exaggerated expectations for the field that have been generated over the last few decades. This includes an absence of explanation for the millennial-scale survivability of a biochemically degradable polymer, and difficulties in establishing authenticity and taxonomic identification. This paper outlines new taphonomic and authenticity criteria to guide future work toward designing research programs that fully exploit the potential of ancient starch while considering growing demands from readers, editors, and reviewers that look for objective compositional identification of putatively ancient starch granules.

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Section: New Taphonomic Criteria and Authenticationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Mercader

Akeju

Brown

et al. 2018

FACETS

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“…Archaeological limestone fragments might also be inspected for maize starch granules and/or phytoliths (Pearsall, 2000;Piperno, 2006;Torrence and Barton, 2006). Such studies would need to carefully employ controls to reduce the chance that starch or phytolith evidence had been introduced from modern sources or from the sediments with which the fragments had been associated (e.g., Hart, 2011).…”

Section: Summary and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stone-boiling maize with limestone: experimental results and implications for nutrition among SE Utah preceramic groups

Ellwood

Scott

Lipe

et al. 2013

Journal of Archaeological Science

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a b s t r a c tGroups living on Cedar Mesa, SE Utah in the late Basketmaker II period (Grand Gulch phase, AD 200e400) were heavily maize-dependent, but lacked beans as a supplemental plant protein, and pottery vessels for cooking. Common occurrence of limestone fragments in their household middens suggests 1) limestone may have been used as the heating element for stone-boiling maize and 2) this practice might have made some maize proteins more available for human nutrition. Experiments examined these possibilities; results indicate that stone-boiling with Cedar Mesa limestone creates an alkaline cooking environment suitable for nixtamalization of maize kernels, and that maize cooked in this fashion shows significant increases in availability of lysine, tryptophan, and methionine. Archaeological limestone fragments from a Grand Gulch phase site show amounts of fragmentation and changes in density consistent with repeated heating. While not conclusive, these data indicate that further research (e.g., examination of archaeological limestone fragments for maize starch grains or phytoliths) is warranted. It is suggested that greater attention be paid to archaeological indications of stone-boiling with limestone among maize-dependent but pre-pottery societies.

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“…Recent advances in artifact residue analysis (Barton 2007;Hart 2011) have made it possible to analyze museum artifacts that were recovered before modern protocol were established to prevent contamination. It is important to be able to reconstruct handling events from the time an artifact was first discovered in the field until the time it was sampled for residue analysis.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While archaeological residues may be directly sampled from the surface of an uncontaminated artifact (Barton 2007;Piperno et al 2004), if an artifact is contaminated with younger residues, it is necessary to systematically strip them away to isolate, collect, and identify older residues associated with the artifact's original use. This study combines the utilization of museum artifacts as proposed by Barton (2007) with efforts to mitigate contamination as proposed by Hart (2011).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The stone tools from Sandy Hill were systematically sampled using protocol established by Chandler-Ezell and Pearsall (2003) and Hart (2011) whereby three samples designated as sediments 1, 2, and 3 were taken from each artifact. This approach assumes that different proportions, abundances, and varieties of starch grains present in each sediment (or layer) reflect differing degrees of post-depositional contamination.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Preliminary Starch Grain Evidence of Ancient Stone Tool Use at the Early Archaic (9,000 B.P.) Site of Sandy Hill, Mashantucket, Connecticut

Hart

Ives

2013

Ethnobiology Letters

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Evaluating the usefulness of phytoliths and starch grains found on survey artifacts

Cited by 53 publications

References 38 publications

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

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

Stone-boiling maize with limestone: experimental results and implications for nutrition among SE Utah preceramic groups

Preliminary Starch Grain Evidence of Ancient Stone Tool Use at the Early Archaic (9,000 B.P.) Site of Sandy Hill, Mashantucket, Connecticut

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