Collaborative Basic Research Towards the Development and Maturation of Phytolith Analysis in Archaeology

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Drs. Deborah Pearsall and Dolores Piperno will collaborate on a project to develop the application of phytolith analysis to archaeological materials. Phytoliths are small bodies of silica which are deposited within plants and are usually preserved in soil after death and decomposition occurs. Although one species of plant may produce phytoliths of many shapes, and very few shapes are restricted to a single species, it is possible to examine phytolith assemblages and make some species identifications. The research team will concentrate on corn and related species. They will obtain phytoliths from different vegetative parts of both domestic corn and possible confusing species to determine what features are unique to corn phytoliths. they will also develop an expert system to permit accurate and easy identification. Only under the most unusual conditions are plants remains preserved in archaeological sites. Thus, because plants play such an important dietary role, it is extremely difficult to reconstruct prehistoric diets. In tropical areas of the work, where preservation is extremely poor, this problem is particularly acute. Phytoliths, because they are so durable, provide a potential way around this problem and therefore merit attention. However, because of the lack of one to one correspondence between phytolith species, analysis poses difficulties. This research should help to solve this problem. The project is important because it will provide archaeologists, as well as paleobiologists, with a value tool which should be useful in many parts of the world.