9: People, Plants, and Animals

What is phytolith?

"Plant Stones": when water goes through root, they take in silica, minerals are in the walls of the plant. - Occurs in grasses, reeds, sedges, palms, conifer and decidous trees - doesn't decay (pure silica)

What is the relationship between Prehistoric diets and floral remains?

Carbonized seeds often could be determine what was cooked, like bulrush and its abundance, all of this seen in stillwater marsh.

What is coprolite?

Desiccated feces (poop), often containing pollen, or small animals,or macrobotinical remains

How do pack rat nests affect sites?& their limitations

Found through arid west, can collect items from 100 m away. Their urine can preserve organic things -also bring things from other sites-

How is middle-level research important link between animal bones and human behaviors that produced patterns in sites?

Knowing what the causes of the animal remains were can give cultural context on whether the people did anything to them or not... Like the female bison left alone because they had no fat

What are Macrobotanical remains& its limitation

MacroBotantical remains: -> plant parts, corn cobs, pine nuts = noticeable/identifiable -Presevered if carbonized ( flotation) or waterlogged or dry cave -Some times found in Poop

What are Microbotantical remains?

Microscopic remains -Pollen ( good at indicating past environment conditions) or phylioths -From soil samples

What does NISP or MNI tell us and which is better?

NISP is every single bone fragment and MNI is based on bone identified to an individual (ex: 50 bones is 50 NISP) (41 left humerus, 22 right patella is MNI 41). MNI is better because it account for how many animals could of been there not every single part... animals dont have 100 limps..

What is NISP vs. MNI?

NISP: The raw number of identified bones (specimens) per specie MNI: The smallest number of individuals necessary to account for all identified bones

What is Phytolith analysis?& its limitation

Similar to pollen analysis but, plants produce one form of pollen, phytolith vary and not all plant produce it. -vary more within specie than pollen can identify different grasses .

What is paleoethnobotany?

Specialization in recovering and identifying plant remains, plant-people interaction (most common way of recovery is flotation)

What information do we record from animal remains?

Taxon-> classification of the animal or specie... If bones are fragmented it can be compared to other animal remains (comparative collection), often categorized by size. If its natural or cultural-> cut marks, burning,gnawing, breakage, weathering

What is palynology?

The study of fossil pollen grains and spores to reconstruct past climates and human behavior -Can identify plant species -durable and preserve many years back -pollen diagrams: proportion shifts between statrigraphic levels

What is taphonomy and why is it important to animal remains?

The study of how organisms become part of the fossil record; natural processes produce pattern in archaeological data. it answers whether those remains were caused by human activity or not (Hudson- Meng Bison Bonehead)

What is results of wood charcoal analysis? & its limitation

Usage of wood for fuel, more burned wood -in Peru (found that people were using grasses +twigs more than mature wood) -depending on availability and era of rule -Using wood for other things (housing etc.) ideaology/ritual -Can see if it was produced by fire or accidental burning or cooking...

what is zooarchaeology?

an archaeology that specializes in the study of animal remains recovered from archaeological sites

What is faunal assemblage?

animal remains recovered from an archaeological site, can be found on kill sites/ not always caused by human activity

Relationship between Pollen and the discovery of past environments:

comparison between regional and not-local environment, can determined how the area looked before because of its plant specie or even weather patterns.

What is faunal analysis?

identification and interpretation of animal remains from an archaeological site

What is archaeobotany?

plant remains from archaeological sites to better understand the environmental context of past societies and how the environment was used/or changed