Analysis of Starch Grains Produced in Select Taxa Encountered in Southwest Asia

  • Thomas C. Hart University of Texas at Austin
Keywords: Paleoethnobotany, starch grains, Southwest Asia

Abstract

Starch grain analysis is a rapidly growing field of research in Southwest Asia and is beginning to be applied to many different time periods. However, much work still remains regarding which taxa produce starch grains that can be identified archaeologically. In this paper, I centralize what is known about starch production patterns within regional flora and analyze 64 previously unstudied taxa from 22 families. The results of this study demonstrate that descriptions of starch grains from Southwest Asian taxa are scattered between archaeological and plant and food science publications. Ten of the species examined in this study, most of whom are grasses, produced starch grains that can be identified at varying taxonomic levels.

Author Biography

Thomas C. Hart, University of Texas at Austin

Thomas C. Hart is the laboratory manager/research scientist for the Environmental Archaeology Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin. 

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Published
2014-12-15
How to Cite
Hart, T. C. (2014). Analysis of Starch Grains Produced in Select Taxa Encountered in Southwest Asia. Ethnobiology Letters, 5, 135‐145. https://doi.org/10.14237/ebl.5.2014.251
Section
Research Communications