Morphometric Identification of Starch Granules From Archaeological Contexts: Diagnostic Characteristics of Seven Major North American Plant Families
Authors:
Lisbeth A. Louderback, Stefania Wilks, Nicole M. Herzog, Gloria Howat Brown, Kaley Joyce, Bruce M. Pavlik
Abstract:
Starch-rich plants have played an important role in human evolution and societal development.
Collected, grown, and consumed to support ever-increasing populations, such plants
are integral to understanding past human diets. With the advent of starch granule
analysis, plant resources that were invisible in the archaeological record can now
be revealed in the cracks and crevices of artifacts. Widespread application of this
technique, however, has stalled due to a lack of rigorous and standardized protocols.
For example, taxonomic identification of starch granules using consistent diagnostic
characteristics is still a challenge as there are no comprehensive surveys across
important (i.e., dietary) plant taxa, especially at the levels of families, genera,
and species. This study provides characteristics for identifying starch granules of
seven major North American plant families (Amaranthaceae, Apiaceae, Fagaceae, Liliaceae,
Pinaceae, Poaceae, and Solanaceae) based on systematic, morphometric studies of modern
reference materials. A dichotomous key to starch granules of the seven families was
also generated to aid in identification of those from archaeological contexts. Although
we have focused on plants from western North America, these families occur across
the globe and have had dietary significance throughout prehistory.
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