Seeds in Archaeological Sites: Sources and Some Interpretive Problems
- 20 January 1981
- journal article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in American Antiquity
- Vol. 46 (1) , 143-152
- https://doi.org/10.2307/279993
Abstract
Macroplant remains recovered during excavation and by flotation are an ambiguous record of prehistoric human/plant interactions. This paper attempts to clarify the relationship by considering natural and cultural processes affecting the archaeological survival of seeds recovered from sites. Also outlined are some characteristics of these botanical artifacts useful in distinguishing their source. In addition, brief comments are directed toward the problem of biases in the paleoethnobotanical record.Keywords
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