Phytolith Analysis in Archaeology

Drs。Deborah Pearsall和Dolores Piperno将合作开展一个为期三年的项目，开发植物岩分析在考古材料中的应用。植物岩是沉积在植物体内的小硅体，通常在植物死亡和分解后保存在土壤中。虽然一种植物可能产生多种形状的植物岩，而且很少有植物岩的形状局限于一种植物，但检查植物岩组合并进行一些物种鉴定是可能的。Drs。Pearsall和Piperno将进行一个多阶段的研究项目，以进一步研究植物岩分析的考古应用。他们将研究分类学，确定提取植物岩的最佳土壤处理方法，制定改进的鉴定标准，并最终制定量化程序。结果将是一系列可以直接用于考古的工具。只有在最不寻常的条件下，植物遗骸才能保存在考古遗址中。因此，由于植物在饮食中扮演着如此重要的角色，重建史前饮食是极其困难的。在世界热带地区，保护工作极其薄弱，这一问题尤为严重。植物岩，因为它们是如此持久，提供了一个潜在的解决这个问题的方法，因此值得关注。然而，由于植物岩种类之间缺乏一对一的对应关系，分析带来了困难。这项研究应该有助于解决这个问题。这个项目很重要，因为它将为考古学家和古生物学家提供一种宝贵的工具，这种工具在世界上许多地方和时期都应该是有用的。

Drs. Deborah Pearsall and Dolores Piperno will collaborate on a three year 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. Drs. Pearsall and Piperno will conduct a multistage research project to further archaeological application of phytolith analysis. They will examine taxonomy, determine the best methods of soil processing to extract phytoliths, develop improved identification criteria, and finally work on quantification procedures. The result will be a series of tools of direct archaeological use. Only under the most unusual conditions are plant 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 world, 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 valuable tool which should be useful in many parts of the world and periods of time.