Title:   Identification of Starch Granules on Ground Stone Tools Exposed to Fire

Wilks, Stefania; Louderback, Lisbeth A.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.4210372

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…There was one exception, however: one of the control samples from Long Lake was collected on an unworked bedrock surface adjacent to five milling surfaces. This sample produced three starch granules of the same plant taxon represented in the interstitial and surface samples (Wilks et al 2024). Given that we have evidence for the processing of the same plant taxon on those specific bedrock metates, it is not surprising that surfaces in the vicinity may have been contaminated with starch from associated plant materials.…”

Section: Starch Granule Analysismentioning

confidence: 82%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Starch Granule Yields from Open-Air Metates Unaffected by Environmental Contamination

Wilks,

Paredes,

Louderback

2024

Am. Antiq.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The morphological characteristics of starch granules preserved on ancient ground stone tools can reveal which plant species were processed and consumed and even infer tool function. Bedrock metates are commonly associated with the processing of localized seasonal resources, providing potential evidence for past human lifeways, including foods collected and processed, social gatherings, settlement patterns, land investment, and territorial behavior. In contrast to ground stone artifacts preserved in a buried context that have been studied extensively, limited starch research has been conducted on the potential for environmental contamination of open-air bedrock mortars and metates exposed to natural erosional elements. This project examines the residue samples of bedrock metates from three archaeological sites in southern Oregon in the United States to compare the starch yields of extraneous material cleaned from the grinding surface to those extracted from interstitial matrices deeper within the bedrock. Significantly greater number of starch granules were recovered from deep within the cracks and crevices than from the surface. Our study suggests that environmental contamination can be managed if separate surface and control samples are collected and analyzed in conjunction with the interstitial samples. Examining the potential for environmental contamination on exposed grinding surfaces is crucial for confidence in starch granule results and improving our understanding of human dietary behavior.

show abstract

Section: Starch Granule Analysismentioning

confidence: 82%

“…Starch granules were counted and photographed with a Zeiss AxioCam MRc5 (60N-C 1" 1,0×) under 400× magnification using Zen software (version 3.1). In this study, we compared the yields of starch granules between surface and interstitial samples; therefore, no taxonomic identifications were reported (see Wilks et al 2024).…”

Section: Laboratory Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%