Introductory guide to the analysis of plant phytoliths in archaeology.

The study of phytoliths—inorganic silica remnants plants leave behind when they die and decay—has developed dramatically over the last twenty years. New publications have documented a diverse array of phytoliths from many regions around the globe, while new understandings have emerged as to how and why plants produce phytoliths. Together, these developments make phytoliths a powerful tool in reconstructing past environments and human uses of plants. In Phytoliths, Dolores Piperno makes sense of the discipline for both those working directly with phytoliths in the field or the lab as well as for those who rely on the results of phytolith studies for their own research. Including over a hundred images, Piperno's book will be of great benefit to archaeologists and paleobotanists in the classroom or the lab.

This is a methodological guide to the use of plant opal phytolith analysis in paleoenvironmental and paleoecological reconstruction. It is the first book-length treatment of this promising technique, which has undergone rapid development within the past few years and is now beginning to be used with considerable success by paleobotanists who serve the archaeological and paleontological research communities. It will be mandatory reading for all paleobotanists, paleoecologists, and archaeological scientists.

This volume is the first in theAdvances in Archaeological and Museum Science series sponsored by the Society for Archaeological Sciences. The purpose of this biennial series is to provide summaries of advances in closely defined topics in archaeometry, archaeological science, environmental archaeology, preservation technology and museum conservation. The Society for Archaeological Sciences (SAS) exists to encourage interdisci plinary collaboration between archaeologists and colleagues in the natural and physical sciences. SAS members are drawn from many disciplinary fields. However, they all share a common belief that physical science techniques and methods constitute an essential component of archaeological field and laboratory studies. The General Editors wish to express their appreciation to Renee S. Kra and Frances D. Moskovitz of Radiocarbon for their special expertise and assistance in the production of this volume. We also appreciate the contribution of the two reviewers for their excellent comments and suggestions. The General Editor responsible for undertaking the development of this volume was R. E. Taylor.

Paleobotanical studies are assuming an increasingly important role in archaeology, providing information on prehistoric social structures, environments, and economic concerns. This volume presents the latest applications of phytolith analysis in archaeology and paleoecology. It demonstrates the versatility of the discipline. MASCA Vol. 10

A wealth of new information on the diversity, evolution and geochronology of the uniquely complete fossil record of Gran Barranca.

This impeccably-researched volume skillfully reports and discusses advances in phytolith research, addressing in particular the use of phytoliths for deciphering fundamental issues in earth science and human history. Comprising thirty reviews and original papers, findings are presented in the following five sections: · phytoliths in palaeoclimatology and palaeoecology · phytoliths, diet and health · archaeological structures, ancient agricultures and palaeoethnobotany · methodology, taxonomy and taphonomy · soil-plant interaction.

This handbook is a completely revised version of the first edition, which was published in 2012. Plant palaeoecologists use data from plant fossils and plant subfossils to reconstruct ecosystems and food economies of the past. This book deals with the study of subfossil plant material retrieved from archaeological excavations and cores dated to the Late Glacial and the Holocene. One of the main objectives of this book is to describe the processes that underlie the formation of the archaeobotanical archive and the ultimate composition of the archaeobotanical record - being the data that are sampled and identified from this immense archive.