Formation Processes of the Macrobotanical Record

Gallagher, Daphne

doi:10.5876/9781607323167.c002

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…It is possible that acacias were deliberately avoided for cutting due to the value of its fruit for fodder as well as medicinal purposes (Zahran and Willis, 2009: 361; cf. shea nut trees in west Africa, Gallagher, 2014: 30), but a more likely explanation is that tamarisk was both more accessible and preferred for fuel.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early- and middle-Holocene wood exploitation in the Fayum basin, Egypt

Marston

Holdaway

2017

The Holocene

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The early and middle Holocene of North Africa was a time of dramatic climatic and social change, including rapid shifts in vegetation communities and the introduction of domesticated plants and animals. Recent research from the Fayum basin of Egypt, which holds archaeological evidence for early use of domesticates, aims to place inhabitants of that region within their contemporary environmental setting. We present here results of wood charcoal analysis from three early-and middle-Holocene deposits on the north shore of the Fayum and reconstruct both contemporary woodland ecology and patterns of anthropogenic wood use. In total, three woodland communities likely existed in the area, but inhabitants of this region made heavy use of only the local lakeshore woodland, emphasizing tamarisk (Tamarix sp.) for fuel. While seasonally watered wadi woodlands were not harvested for fuel, more arid locations on the landscape were, evidencing regional mobility between ecological zones. Results indicate that wood was locally abundant and that inhabitants were able to select only preferred species for fuel. This study provides further evidence for low-level food production in the Fayum that preserved critical ecosystem services, rather than dramatic niche construction to promote agriculture as seen elsewhere in middle-Holocene Southwest Asia.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early- and middle-Holocene wood exploitation in the Fayum basin, Egypt

Marston

Holdaway

2017

The Holocene

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“…Charring causes changes to the size, shape and proportions of seeds and can also cause fragmentation (Gallagher 2015). Charring experiments using real fire, an open fire of mixed wood fuel, help determine preservation biases, whereas the use of the muffle furnace is more useful in looking at changes in seed morphology during carbonisation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preservation bias: is rice overrepresented in the archaeological record?

Castillo

2018

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Most charring experiments are carried out in the muffle furnace in highly controlled conditions and tackle the taphonomic issues of seed shrinkage and distortion caused by carbonisation. This paper presents the results from charring experiments conducted using real fire conditions. The objective of this study is to reproduce the charring processes that occur naturally and so address the issue of preservation biases which occurred in prehistoric contexts of carbonisation. This is particularly important in addressing the possible overrepresentation of rice over other taxa in the archaeological record. Prior charring experiments focus on Old World crops, but in this study the taxa used are East, South and Southeast Asian cereals and pulses. An ethnographic study conducted in Thailand examining the rice processing stages of dehusking and winnowing is also included since differential preservation may also result from crop processing. Archaeological results from sites in Mainland Southeast Asia are then interpreted using the results of the charring experiments and the ethnographic data.

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“…The first of these scenarios seems likely to have applied at the time when Çamlıbel Tarlası was settled, although whether selection occurred under these conditions of abundance is still unclear: preferential use of a very common taxon may look very similar to indiscriminate use of that taxon in proportion to its abundance. If oak were a poor-quality fuel, or provided other economic uses such that it was preferentially ignored when harvesting wood (e.g., for construction [Dufraisse, 2008] or fruit [Gallagher, 2014]), then we might expect a disparity between landscape abundance and use frequency. In this case, however, where fuel was in demand for both metallurgy (all phases) and domestic uses (phases ÇBT II-IV), and given the high fuel value of oak (Marston, 2009), these two scenarios are equally plausible-oak was likely at least very common, if not dominant, in the landscape at the time of settlement.…”

Section: Reconstructing Woodland Vegetationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental reconstruction and wood use at Late Chalcolithic Çamlıbel Tarlası, Turkey

Marston

Kováčik

Schoop

2021

Quaternary International

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Çamlıbel Tarlası is a short-lived, mid 4 th millennium BCE Chalcolithic archaeological site in northern central Anatolia, modern Turkey, with evidence for both intensive metallurgy and permanent occupation. Analysis of a wood charcoal assemblage from the site, totaling 2815 charcoal fragments, is the first from this period and region. Anthracological analysis indicates that the primary fuel wood used was deciduous oak, which comprised nearly 90% of identifiable fragments. We find little evidence of differences in wood species used for different functions or over time; however, a significant trend towards the increased use of large-diameter branch or trunk wood over time is noted both for oak and other minor taxa. We reconstruct a dense oakdominated woodland in the vicinity of the site at the time of first use, with increased forest clearance over time, due to either diminished fuel availability or agricultural expansion, or a combination of the two. An intensification in metallurgical activity in later periods of occupation may have increased demand specifically for large-diameter wood.

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Formation Processes of the Macrobotanical Record

Cited by 12 publications

References 0 publications

Early- and middle-Holocene wood exploitation in the Fayum basin, Egypt

Early- and middle-Holocene wood exploitation in the Fayum basin, Egypt

Preservation bias: is rice overrepresented in the archaeological record?

Environmental reconstruction and wood use at Late Chalcolithic Çamlıbel Tarlası, Turkey

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