Budapest, Archaeolingua, 2018
Paperback
202 pages with colored and grayscale images
ISBN 978-615-5766-21-3
Description
Archaeobotany, a discipline that combines botany and the study of history, has helped archaeologists and historians since the end of the 19th century. Archaeobotanical research, although it rarely comes into the spotlight, makes a fascinating and substantial contribution to our knowledge of historical times and archaeological cultures. Remains of plants and food may survive in the soil in various ways. Hermetically sealed layers, carbonization, or freezing facilitate preservation and make both microscopic and macroscopic plant remains suitable for scientific examination. Micro-archaeobotany is involved in the analysis of remains only a few micrometers in size, such as pollen, starch particles, and phytoliths (structures of silica found in plant tissues). Macro-archaeobotany examines remains that are visible to the naked eye but require microscopic analysis, such as seeds, fruits, as well as remains of food, wood, and charcoal. The analysis of plant remains conveys information on plant cultivation, food production, and burial practices, and at the same time it paves the way to conclusions on environmental and landscape history through a reconstruction of vegetation and the character of historical landscapes. This volume is primarily intended for archaeologists, historians, and botanists, but at the same time it may be a great read for the lay public interested in science and history. The case studies and short essays on Hungarian findings, along with the plain language of the book, aim to convey the advances of this lesser-known discipline to a wide audience of professionals.
