Why do archaeologists use flotation?
Flotation is one of the archaeobotanical sampling techniques used on site to investigate ancient plant remains. Flotation captures small finds including grains and seeds that would normally be missed during archaeological excavation.
What is paleoethnobotany and how does it relate to the study of diet?
Paleoethnobotany (sometimes spelled palaeoethnobotany), or archaeobotany, is the study of past human-plant interactions through the recovery and analysis of ancient plant remains.
How is flotation analysis conducted?
Invented in the early 20th century, flotation is today still one of the most common ways to retrieve carbonized plant remains from archaeological contexts. In flotation, the technician places dried soil on a screen of mesh wire cloth, and water is gently bubbled up through the soil.
Why is stratigraphy important in archaeology?
Soils in stratigraphy are important to archaeology because they indicate a significant period of stability when a landscape surface was stable and not undergoing significant deposition or erosion.
What is paleoethnobotany archaeology?
Paleoethnobotany is the study of behavioral and ecological interactions between past peoples and plants, documented through the analysis of pollen grains, charred seeds and wood, phytoliths, and residues (Ford 1979; Hastorf & Popper 1988; Warnock 1998; Pearsall 2000).
Who is known as Archaeobotanist?
Archaeobotanists or paleoethnobotanists are scholars or practitioners of archaeobotany (paleoethnobotany), a sub-discipline of archaeology concerned with plant remains.
What is flotation used for?
Flotation is widely used to concentrate copper, lead, and zinc minerals, which commonly accompany one another in their ores. Many complex ore mixtures formerly of little value have become major sources of certain metals by means of the flotation process.
Is pollen an ecofact?
In archaeology, a biofact (or ecofact) is organic material found at an archaeological site that carries archaeological significance. Biofacts are natural objects found alongside artifacts or features, such as animal bones, charcoal, plants, and pollen.