Methods in Paleoethnobotany: Studies of Cereal Cultivation

Archaeological literature on prehistoric agriculture is often concerned with theoretical discussion than with the archaeobotanical data that have been analyzed to steer the discussion. Many books on prehistoric agriculture focus on high-level theories, while seemingly 'smaller' questions regarding preservation, recovery, and identification of plant materials are only briefly addressed. This book discusses several technical questions with a special emphasis on the following four issues: (1) preservation conditions: what are the most common preservation conditions of cereal remains generally encountered at archaeological sites?; (2) morphological changes: what changes in shape do cereal remains undergo in different preservation conditions?; (3) identification methods: what methods have been used for the identification of cereal remains?; and finally (4) evidence of cultivation: what lines of evidence do paleoethnobotanists use to determine whether the identified cereal remains were cultivated?

About the author

Minkoo Kim is an Associate Professor at the Department of Anthropology, Chonnam National University, Korea. He received Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Product details

• Authors: Minkoo Kim
• Publisher: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing
• Languages: English, German
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.01.2014
• EAN: 9783659670305
• ISBN: 978-3-659-67030-5
• No. of pages: 64
• Dimensions: 150 mm x 220 mm x 4 mm
• Weight: 114 g
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Philosophy > Antiquity; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: antiquity to present day