Abstract
Cucurbita seeds are difficult to identify to species level using only their external morphology. In this contribution, we discuss anatomical features of fresh, dehydrated and experimentally carbonised specimens that are useful for the identification of archaeological Cucurbita seeds. Qualitative and quantitative differences in the seed coat micromorphology were found to be the most helpful diagnostic characteristics of South American Cucurbita species.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to offer thanks to R. Pozner for his support on Cucurbita taxonomy, to the anonymous referees and the editor, M. van der Veen, for their useful comments which contributed to improve this paper, to M. Wollstonecroft for her kind advice on the English writing and to the copy editor James Greig for his patient and careful work on our manuscript.
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Communicated by M. van der Veen.
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Lema, V., Capparelli, A. & Pochettino, M.L. Taxonomic identification of dry and carbonized archaeobotanical remains of Cucurbita species through seed coat micromorphology. Veget Hist Archaeobot 17 (Suppl 1), 277–286 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-008-0176-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-008-0176-4