Theme:
6. A Decade after the ‘Third Science Revolution in Archaeology’
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
The Archaeobotanical Puzzle: (Dis)Integrating Botanical Proxies to Better Comprehend Past Plant-People Interactions
Content:
The study of plant remains recovered from archaeological deposits provides information about past people’ subsistence strategies, technology and behaviours, past environments and vegetation changes. However, this can only be achieved after overcoming important challenges that can impact the way past plant use and gathering strategies are examined and interpreted.
The first of these challenges relates to the origin of different botanical remains found in archaeological sites, which may be natural (in-situ growth; transport of plants or plant remains by animals, wind or water) or induced by humans (introduced by site inhabitants intentionally or accidentally). The second refers to their preservation after deposition, since various depositional environments and taphonomic processes might affect the various plant remains in different ways. The third is related to the information that can be obtained from these plant remains, which is closely related to their taxonomic and anatomical identification, and therefore intrinsic to each discipline. The fourth and last relates to the factors triggering plant gathering activities, which may be associated with human preferences and actions (opportunistic or targeted collection) or natural, thus depending upon availability and abundance in the surrounding environments, therefore influenced by climate changes.
The session aims to bring together researchers working in different archaeobotanical disciplines to discuss factors ruling plant taphonomy, peoples' uses of plants and palaeoenvironments. We specifically seek case studies that address the challenges of integrating the signatures obtained through a diversity of macro- and micro-botanical remains, as well as those that researchers must overcome when plant preservation is poor. We are also interested in contributions from studies that discuss the strengths and weaknesses of proxy data, and ways to overcome the latter to better contribute to the study of past societies and human behaviour. Contributions concerning different regions and chronologies are welcomed.
Keywords:
Archaeobotany, Macrobotanics, Microbotanics, Intradisciplinary, Strengths, Weaknesses
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Irene Esteban (Spain) 1,2
Co-organisers:
Rosa Maria Albert (Spain) 3,4
Isabelle Théry-Parisot (France) 5,6
Frank Neumann (South Africa) 7
Affiliations:
1. ERAAUB, Universitat de Barcelona
2. Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand
3. ERAAUB, University of Barcelona
4. ICREA Research Professor
5. CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur
6. Directrice de Recherche au CNRS
7. Geology, School for Geo- and Spatial Science, North West University
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