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Tracing microfossil residues of cereal processing in the archaeobotanical record: an experimental approach

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Abstract

Interdisciplinary methodological approaches are fundamental for studying tool use and crop processing patterns in the archaeological record. Many archaeological studies of plant microfossil evidence, primarily those of phytoliths, starch grains and pollen, are concerned with processing methods which can be replicated through experimentally produced plant residues. However, most of these studies rely on crop identification through the presence or absence of such microfossils while giving little or hardly any weight to taphonomy and formation processes, which are critical for interpreting archaeological contexts. An investigation of experimentally produced phytolith and pollen assemblages provides the opportunity to evaluate the impact of cereal processing on both microfossils. Controlled experiments were conducted at the Museum of Menorca, Balearic Islands, Spain, for assessing microfossil taphonomy using Iron Age Talayotic tools and Hordeum vulgare (hulled barley) grown nowadays on the island. For dehusking, a sandstone mortar and a wooden pestle were used outdoors, whereas grinding took place indoors using a limestone quern and handstone. The results indicate that the size of multicellular or anatomically connected phytoliths decreases as a result of mechanical degradation suffered through processing activities, whereas the proportion of cereal pollen grains increases through these processes. Additionally, experimental samples from dehusking and sieving provided abundant evidence of floral bracts, and also of other plant parts and even different plant species, such as phytoliths from leaves and stems and non cereal pollen taxa, which were also to be found on the surfaces of the ground stone tools. These findings highlight the importance of integrating different lines of microfossil evidence and taking into account formation and taphonomic aspects, as well as the value of experimentally produced data for a better understanding of tool use and crop processing.

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Acknowledgments

This study was made possible by support from the Museu de Menorca and Consell Insular de Menorca. The research by the first author has been funded by the Juan de la Cierva Sub-programme (Spanish Ministry of Competitiveness and Economy, MINECO (JCI2009-04217) and HAR2013-42054-P as well as the Catalan Agency for Universities and Research Grants, AGAUR (SGR2009 1418). She is part of the Prehistory Consolidated Research Team at the University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU (IT-622-13). Thanks are due to the Algendaret farmers, who provided us with the barley crops used in our experiments and to Peter Hochsieder, who assisted in the harvest. We are also grateful to Laia Macià and Joaquim de Prado, who helped in the phytolith laboratory at the University of Barcelona.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Prehistory and Archaeology, University of the Basque Country, UPV-EHU, C/Francisco Tomás y Valiente s/n, 01006, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain

    Marta Portillo

  2. ERAAUB, Department of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Barcelona, Montalegre 6-8, 08001, Barcelona, Spain

    Marta Portillo & Rosa M. Albert

  3. SERP, Department of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Barcelona, Montalegre 6-8, 08001, Barcelona, Spain

    Yolanda Llergo

  4. Museu de Menorca, Av. Dr. Guàrdia, s/n, 07701, Mahón, Menorca, Spain

    Antoni Ferrer

  5. Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies, ICREA, Passeig Lluís Companys 23, 08010, Barcelona, Spain

    Rosa M. Albert

Authors
  1. Marta Portillo
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  2. Yolanda Llergo
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  3. Antoni Ferrer
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  4. Rosa M. Albert
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marta Portillo.

Additional information

Communicated by K. Neumann.

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Portillo, M., Llergo, Y., Ferrer, A. et al. Tracing microfossil residues of cereal processing in the archaeobotanical record: an experimental approach. Veget Hist Archaeobot 26, 59–74 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-016-0571-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-016-0571-1

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