The morphological and anatomical interpretation and identification of charred vegetative parenchymatous plant remains
This research project has attempted to develop a methodology for the identification of charred remains of useful non-woody vegetative parts of plants by the use of morphological and anatomical characters. A large number of taxa have been observed covering a wide morphological, anatomical, ethnographic and taxonomic range. The chosen taxa cover a geographic area from Western Europe, through the Mediterranean to the Near East. Anatomy of fresh material viewed under the light microscope has been used to interpret the anatomy of experimentally charred tissues viewed under the Scanning Electron Microscope. Classical morphological and anatomical characters have been used as well as artifactual characters caused by charring. Literature covering root and tuber domestication and the exploitation of roots and tubers as wild resources are reviewed. The origins of root crops in Europe and the Near East is discussed and compared with the origin of root and tuber crops in the tropics. The application of morphological terms such as rhizome, rootstock and corm as well as the use of anatomical and morphological characters of the tissues under observation for classification and identification are discussed. The results first
Hather, Jonathan G.
Archaeology
The morphological and anatomical interpretation and identification of charred vegetative parenchymatous plant remains. This research project has attempted to develop a methodology for the identification of charred remains of useful non-woody vegetative parts of plants by the use of morphological and anatomical characters. A large number of taxa have been observed covering a wide morphological, anatomical, ethnographic and taxonomic range. The chosen taxa cover a geographic area from Western Europe, through the Mediterranean to the Near East. Anatomy of fresh material viewed under the light microscope has been used to interpret the anatomy of experimentally charred tissues viewed under the Scanning Electron Microscope. Classical morphological and anatomical characters have been used as well as artifactual characters caused by charring. Literature covering root and tuber domestication and the exploitation of roots and tubers as wild resources are reviewed. The origins of root crops in Europe and the Near East is discussed and compared with the origin of root and tuber crops in the tropics. The application of morphological terms such as rhizome, rootstock and corm as well as the use of anatomical and morphological characters of the tissues under observation for classification and identification are discussed. The results first
morphological anatomical interpretation identification char plant_remain project_attempt develop identification char remain useful non part plant_use morphological anatomical character large_number taxon observe cover_wide morphological anatomical ethnographic taxonomic range choose taxa cover geographic_area western_europe mediterranean near_east anatomy fresh material view light microscope use_interpret anatomy experimentally char tissue view scanning electron microscope classical morphological anatomical character use well character cause literature cover root domestication exploitation root wild resource review origin root crop europe near_east discuss compare origin root crop application morphological term well use anatomical morphological character tissue observation classification identification discuss first