Charred plant remains as minute artefactual debris : lifestyles and economy upon the Roman fen-edge, Cambridgeshire
The relationship between human lives and the formation of archaeological contexts is of fundamental importance in understanding any assemblage. Although the effect of charring upon survival of plant remains is relatively well known, the mechanisms for their dispersal across settlements have rarely been addressed. Mixing and re-deposition of artefactual debris can affect the ratios that are used to identify the presence of specific crop processing stages (e.g. grain:chaff) with the result that charred plant assemblages are culturally transformed representations of activity pattern, particularly middening. This research proposes that a multi-evidence methodology is required to address the diversity of sources that have contributed artefacts to a sampled context: a case study is presented of three recently excavated Roman settlements in Cambridgeshire fen-edge. At each site, the charred plant assemblage is studied following standard practice and then contrasted with an experimental recording of other small artefacts from the same soil samples. The diversity of formation pathways represented within a context is accessible as charred and uncharred items represented fundamentally different sources, and their mixing
Ballantyne, Rachel Mary
Charred plant remains as minute artefactual debris : lifestyles and economy upon the Roman fen-edge, Cambridgeshire. The relationship between human lives and the formation of archaeological contexts is of fundamental importance in understanding any assemblage. Although the effect of charring upon survival of plant remains is relatively well known, the mechanisms for their dispersal across settlements have rarely been addressed. Mixing and re-deposition of artefactual debris can affect the ratios that are used to identify the presence of specific crop processing stages (e.g. grain:chaff) with the result that charred plant assemblages are culturally transformed representations of activity pattern, particularly middening. This research proposes that a multi-evidence methodology is required to address the diversity of sources that have contributed artefacts to a sampled context: a case study is presented of three recently excavated Roman settlements in Cambridgeshire fen-edge. At each site, the charred plant assemblage is studied following standard practice and then contrasted with an experimental recording of other small artefacts from the same soil samples. The diversity of formation pathways represented within a context is accessible as charred and uncharred items represented fundamentally different sources, and their mixing
plant_remain minute artefactual debris lifestyle economy upon roman fen edge cambridgeshire relationship human live formation archaeological_context fundamental_importance assemblage although effect char upon survival plant_remain relatively_well know mechanisms dispersal across settlement rarely address mixing deposition artefactual debris affect ratio use_identify presence specific crop_processing stage grain chaff char_plant assemblage culturally transform representation activity pattern particularly proposes multi evidence require address diversity source contribute artefact sample context case_study present recently_excavate roman settlement cambridgeshire fen edge site char_plant assemblage study follow standard practice contrast experimental record small artefact soil sample diversity formation pathway represent within_context accessible char item represent fundamentally_different source mix