Archaeobotany and Palynology

Archaeobotany and palynology recover and identify ancient plant remains and pollen to reconstruct past diet, agriculture, vegetation, and environmental change.

Definition

The study of plant macro- and microremains, including seeds, wood charcoal, and pollen, recovered from archaeological and sedimentary contexts to reconstruct past plant use and environments.

Scope

This topic covers the recovery of macroscopic plant remains such as seeds, charcoal, and chaff through flotation, and the microscopic study of pollen and spores in sediments and soils. It addresses the identification and quantification of plant taxa, the reconstruction of crops, diet, and land use, and the use of pollen diagrams to track vegetation history and human impact.

Core questions

• How are plant remains and pollen recovered from sediments?
• How are plant taxa identified and quantified?
• What do plant remains reveal about diet, crops, and agriculture?
• How do pollen diagrams record vegetation and human impact over time?

Key theories

Flotation recovery of macroremains

The use of water flotation to separate carbonized and waterlogged seeds, chaff, and charcoal from soil, which transformed the systematic recovery and interpretation of plant remains.

Pollen analysis of vegetation history

The reconstruction of past vegetation and human impact from the relative frequencies of pollen and spores preserved in peat, lake, and soil sequences.

History

Pollen analysis was pioneered in Scandinavia in the early 20th century for Quaternary vegetation studies and later applied to archaeology to track forest clearance and farming. Archaeobotany expanded dramatically in the 1960s and 1970s with the spread of flotation, enabling routine recovery of charred seeds and the study of crop processing and early agriculture.

Debates

Representativeness of plant assemblages

Because preservation favors charred and waterlogged material and reflects particular activities, scholars debate how far recovered plant remains represent past diet and agriculture rather than specific processing or disposal practices.

Key figures

• Deborah M. Pearsall
• Marijke van der Veen
• Gordon Hillman

Seminal works

• pearsall2015
• moore1991

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between archaeobotany and palynology?

Archaeobotany studies macroscopic plant remains such as seeds and charcoal, while palynology studies microscopic pollen and spores; both reconstruct past plants and environments.

How are tiny plant remains recovered from a site?

Soil samples are processed by flotation, in which water separates light charred seeds and charcoal that float off, while pollen is extracted chemically from sediment samples.