Method and Theory in Paleoethnobotany - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 160732315X ISBN 13: 9781607323150

Verlag: Univ of Chicago behalf of UP Colorado, 2015

Inhaltsangabe

Paleoethnobotany, the study of archaeological plant remains, is poised at the intersection of the study of the past and concerns of the present, including agricultural decision making, biodiversity, and global environmental change, and has much to offer to archaeology, anthropology, and the interdisciplinary study of human relationships with the natural world. Method and Theory in Paleoethnobotany demonstrates those connections and highlights the increasing relevance of the study of past human-plant interactions for understanding the present and future.

A diverse and highly regarded group of scholars reference a broad array of literature from around the world as they cover their areas of expertise in the practice and theory of paleoethnobotany-starch grain analysis, stable isotope analysis, ancient DNA, digital data management, and ecological and postprocessual theory.

The only comprehensive edited volume focusing on method and theory to appear in the last twenty-five years, Method and Theory in Paleoethnobotany addresses the new areas of inquiry that have become central to contemporary archaeological debates, as well as the current state of theoretical, methodological, and empirical work in paleoethnobotany.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

John M. Marston is assistant professor in the Departments of Archaeology and Anthropology at Boston University. Jade d'Alpoim Guedes is assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Washington State University. Christina Warinner is a research associate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Oklahoma and a research affiliate of the Molecular Research Group at the University of Zôrich's Centre for Evolutionary Medicine.

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Method and Theory in Paleoethnobotany

By John M. Marston, Jade d' Alpoim Guedes, Christina Warinner

University Press of Colorado

Copyright © 2014 University Press of Colorado
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-60732-315-0

Contents

List of Figures, 
List of Tables, 
Preface JOHN M. MARSTON, JADE D'ALPOIM GUEDES, AND CHRISTINA WARINNER, 
1. Paleoethnobotanical Method and Theory in the Twenty-First Century JOHN M. MARSTON, CHRISTINA WARINNER, AND JADE D'ALPOIM GUEDES, 
Part I: Formation Processes, 
2. Formation Processes of the Macrobotanical Record DAPHNE E. GALLAGHER, 
3. Formation and Taphonomic Processes Affecting Starch Granules AMANDA G. HENRY, 
4. Formation Processes of Pollen and Phytoliths DEBORAH M. PEARSALL, 
Part II: Recovery, Identification, and Data Management, 
5. Sampling Strategies in Paleoethnobotanical Analysis JADE D'ALPOIM GUEDES AND ROBERT SPENGLER, 
6. Recovering Macrobotanical Remains: Current Methods and Techniques CHANTEL E. WHITE AND CHINA P. SHELTON, 
7. Laboratory Analysis and Identification of Plant Macroremains GAYLE FRITZ AND MARK NESBITT, 
8. Digitizing the Archaeobotanical Record CHRISTINA WARINNER AND JADE D'ALPOIM GUEDES, 
Part III: Quantification and Analysis, 
9. Ratios and Simple Statistics in Paleoethnobotanical Analysis: Data Exploration and Hypothesis Testing JOHN M. MARSTON, 
10. The Use of Multivariate Statistics within Archaeobotany ALEXIA SMITH, 
11. Analysis and Interpretation of Intrasite Variability in Paleoethnobotanical Remains: A Consideration and Application of Methods at the Ravensford Site, North Carolina AMBER M. VANDERWARKER, JENNIFER V. ALVARADO, AND PAUL WEBB, 
12. Intersite Variation within Archaeobotanical Charred Assemblages: A Case Study Exploring the Social Organization of Agricultural Husbandry in Iron Age and Roman Britain CHRIS J. STEVENS, 
Part IV: Integration of Paleoethnobotanical Data, 
13. Peopling the Environment: Interdisciplinary Inquiries into Socioecological Systems Incorporating Paleoclimatology and Geoarchaeology TIMOTHY C. MESSNER AND GARY E. STINCHCOMB, 
14. From the Ground Up: Advances in Stable Isotope-Based Paleodietary Inference CHRISTINA WARINNER, 
15. Ancient Biomolecules from Archaeobotanical Remains NATHAN WALES, KENNETH ANDERSEN, AND ENRICO CAPPELLINI, 
16. A Landscape Context for Paleoethnobotany: The Contribution of Aerial and Satellite Remote Sensing JESSE CASANA, 
Part V: Interpretation, 
17. Human Behavioral Ecology and Paleoethnobotany KRISTEN J. GREMILLION, 
18. Documenting Human Niche Construction in the Archaeological Record BRUCE D. SMITH, 
19. Paleoethnobotanical Analysis, Post-Processing SHANTI MORELL-HART, 
References Cited, 
About the Contributors, 
Index, 

CHAPTER 1

Paleoethnobotanical Method and Theory in the Twenty-First Century

* * *

JOHN M. MARSTON, CHRISTINA WARINNER, AND JADE D'ALPOIM GUEDES

The origins of the study of relationships between people and plants in the past began as early as the nineteenth century with the identification of desiccated plant remains recovered from rockshelters in the American Southwest (Ford 2003:xii; 2004:x; Pearsall 2000:1) and waterlogged remains from Swiss lake-dwelling sites (Hastorf 1999:55). This field of study, first termed ethno-botany, today is termed either paleoethnobotany or archaeobotany, with the two synonymous terms generally preferred in North America and Europe, respectively (figure 1.1). Paleoethnobotany expanded tremendously as a field in the second half of the twentieth century, as reflected in the growing number of publications since the 1970s (see the extensive bibliographies in Hastorf 1999 and Pearsall 2000), and continues to make substantial contributions to archaeology today.

This volume is conceived as a reflection on the state of the field after the first decade of the twenty-first century. Paleoethnobotany has changed dramatically since its earliest days and since the publication of the first seminal volumes in the 1970s and 1980s (Hastorf and Popper 1988; Pearsall 1989; Renfrew 1973; van Zeist and Casparie 1984; van Zeist et al. 1991). It is time for a new and updated overview of the methods and theory of paleoethnobotany that addresses what we do and why we do it. This volume assembles a diverse group of authors to write about their areas of expertise in the practice and theory of paleoethnobotany. We cover topics from the formation processes of plant remains in the archaeological record to methods for their recovery and analysis to diverse modes of interpretation, both alone and in concert with other types of archaeological analyses.

This book differs from prior contributions to the field in three ways. First, this is the only comprehensive edited volume focusing on method and theory to appear since the 1988 publication of Current Paleoethnobotany (Hastorf and Popper 1988), still an influential and frequently cited volume but now dated in bibliography and without the benefit of technical advances in the field since the 1980s. Due to the high quality of the chapters in that volume, we aim to supplement (rather than replicate) the topics covered in 1988 with new areas of inquiry (e.g., starch grain analysis, stable isotope analysis, ancient DNA, digital data management, and ecological and postprocessual theory) that have become central to contemporary archaeological debates. Second, we aim for worldwide coverage in the literature referenced, in contrast to many excellent recent volumes that synthesize regional bodies of data and literatures in the Northeastern United States (Hart 1999, 2008), the Eastern United States (Gremillion 1997; Minnis 2003; Scarry 1993b), the Western United States (Minnis 2004), China (Zhao 2010), Africa (van der Veen 1999b), the tropics (Hather 1994), and Europe and the Near East (van Zeist and Casparie 1984; van Zeist et al. 1991). Finally, although Pearsall's (2000)Paleoethnobotany: A Handbook of Procedures, currently in its second edition, is a critical reference for all paleoethnobotanists (as well as archaeologists of other specialties), its focus lies on providing a broad overview of methods in the discipline, rather than a critical examination of particular areas of study. This volume, in contrast, includes chapters that focus narrowly on individual topics and assesses the current state of theoretical, methodological, and empirical work in each area. We intend for this book to be used alongside the seminal works listed above, as well as myriad monographs and articles, and to serve as the next milestone along the path of paleoethnobotanical knowledge.

This chapter serves two purposes: it reviews briefly the state of the field to date and it suggests future directions in paleoethnobotany. Rather than list or summarize the other chapters in this volume, we reference them within this discussion to show how the questions addressed in subsequent chapters fit into the overall trajectory of both recent advances and predicted future trends in the field. Paleoethnobotany is poised at the intersection between study of the past and concerns of the present, including food security, biodiversity, and global environmental change, and has much to offer to archaeology, anthropology, and interdisciplinary studies of human relationships with the natural world. This volume, as a whole,...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Univ of Chicago behalf of UP Colorado
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2015
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 160732315X
• ISBN 13: 9781607323150
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 574
• Herausgeber: Marston John M.
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar