News

Advances in morphometrics in archaeobotany

  • April 1, 2019
  • Comments off

Portillo, M., Ball, T.B., Wallace, M., Murphy, C., Pérez-Díaz, S., Ruiz-Alonso, M., Aceituno, F. J., López-Sáez, J. A. 2019. Advances in morphometrics in archaeobotany. Environmental Archaeology: the Journal of Human Palaeoecology. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14614103.2019.1569351 This paper reviews current methodologies, recent applications, and advances in the use of morphometrics for various types of plant remains, its applications […]

Read More

Phytoliths in Paleoecology: A review !

  • November 21, 2018
  • Comments off

Caroline A. E. Strömberg, Regan E. Dunn, Camilla Crifò, and Elisha B. Harris. 2018. Chapter 12 – Phytoliths in Paleoecology: Analytical Considerations, Current Use, and Future Directions. D. A. Croft et al. (eds.), Methods in Paleoecology: Reconstructing Cenozoic Terrestrial Environments and Ecological Communities, Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94265-0_12 Although phytolith analysis is a standard tool […]

Read More
grass short cell phytolith structure using micro-scale X-ray imaging IPS phytolith

When the carbon being dated is not what you think it is: Insights from phytolith carbon research

  • September 14, 2018
  • Comments off

Guaciara M. Santos, Armand Masion, Anne Alexandre, 2018. When the carbon being dated is not what you think it is: Insights from phytolith carbon research. Quaternary Science Reviews 197 (2018) 162-174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.08.007 During phytolith formation, a small amount of carbon (C) can become occluded in the siliceous structure (<1% of the phytolith dry weight). Since […]

Read More

Phytoliths as an indicator of early modern humans plant gathering strategies, fire fuel and site occupation intensity during the Middle Stone Age at Pinnacle Point 5-6 (south coast, South Africa)

Esteban I, Marean CW, Fisher EC, Karkanas P, Cabanes D, Albert RM (2018) Phytoliths as an indicator of early modern humans plant gathering strategies, fire fuel and site occupation intensity during the Middle Stone Age at Pinnacle Point 5-6 (south coast, South Africa). PLoS ONE 13(6): e0198558. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0198558 This article provides insight on the foraging […]

Read More

Subdecadal phytolith and charcoal records from Lake Malawi, East Africa imply minimal effects on human evolution from the ~74 ka Toba supereruption

Chad L. Yost, Lily J. Jackson, Jeffery R. Stone, Andrew S. Cohen, 2018. Journal of Human Evolution, v. 116, p. 75-94. Our study uses phytoliths and microcharcoal from lake sediments to determine the effects of the Indonesian Mount Toba supereruption at ~75 ka on the climate and vegetation of East Africa. We worked with sediment […]

Read More
Californian Landscape

Distribution modelling of pre-Columbian California grasslands with soil phytoliths: New insights for prehistoric grassland ecology and restoration

Fick, S.E., and R.R. Evett. 2018. Distribution modelling of pre-Columbian California grasslands with soil phytoliths: New insights for prehistoric grassland ecology and restoration. PLoS ONE 13(4):e0194315. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0194315 This article opens a new frontier for phytolith research, for the first time combining phytolith data with a species distribution modeling (SDM) approach to estimate the prehistoric distribution […]

Read More