Silicon (Si) speciation and availability in soils is highly important for ecosystem functioning,
because Si is a beneficial element for plant growth. Si chemistry is highly complex compared …

This new edition of the definitive work on doing paleoethnobotany brings the book up to date
by incorporating new methods and examples of research, while preserving the overall …

Little is known about the introduction of domesticated crops in Sudan. Substantial early
evidence of the cereals wheat and barley has, until recently, been mainly restricted to the …

Opaline phytoliths are important microfossils used in archaeological and ecological
research. Relatively little is known about the stability of phytoliths after burial. Under alkaline …

The application of crop processing models to macro-botanical assemblages has traditionally
been used to interpret past husbandry practices and organisation of labour involved in crop …

Phytoliths, microscopic plant silica bodies, are often preserved in modern and fossil soils
and sediment, as well as in archaeological contexts. They record unique characteristics of …

Taphonomy is commonly described as “the study of the environmental conditions affecting
the preservation of animal or plant remains”. This broad definition is usually understood to …

A rapid phytolith extraction procedure is described, that allows phytolith concentrations and
morphotype assemblages to be analyzed within hours. This procedure enables the results of …

The depositional environments of Amud Cave indicate that phytolith assemblages retrieved
from the cave's sediments are an integral part of the Middle Palaeolithic sequence. As such …

We discuss some recent trends in archaeological microfossil research, including
approaches using multiple microfossil data sets (eg pollen, phytoliths, starches, and …