Fall/Winter 1997

PALEOETHNOBOTANY LABORATORY Analyzing Plant Remains J. Paul Getty Museum donates Old World Plants by Virginia Popper THE PALEOETHNOBOTANY LAB has been very active this year, analyzing assemblages of plant remains from a variety of archaeological sites. Most of out contracts involved sites in California, including Ventura, Orange, Los Angeles, Imperial, Riverside, San Diego , and San Luis Obispo counties. We are finishing up our regional study of Intermediate through Proto-Historic period sites located in the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor in Orange County. Our research on the use and possible manipulation of grasses during these periods includes the measurement of archaeological specimens of little barley (Hordeum) to look for changes in grass seed size and morphology. Outside California, we are studying plant remains from a historic site in the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, Skagway, Alaska (National Park Service). The well-preserved privy and dump deposits contain a wide variety of edible resources, mainly domesticated and wild fruits. Plant remains recovered from various sites excavated by the Naco Valley Archaeological Project, Honduras (courtesy of Pat Urban and Ed Schortman, Kenyon College) are providing data on plant use during the Middle Preclassic, Late Classic, and Postclassic, which will allow us to examine differences in plant use between elite and nonelite contexts and between large platforms and residential sites. This year the Laboratory has also focused on the expansion and reorganization of our comparative collection. We continued our partnership with the UCLA Botanical Garden, which provides us with native California plants. In addition, we significantly increased our collection of Old World plants, courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Museum. Collections in their garden were made by Jessica Zimmer (University of California, Santa Barbara) with guidance from Michael DeHart (J. Paul Getty Museum) and arrangements by Dr. Sarah Morris (UCLA). Volunteers interested in assisting with sorting archaeological plant material and maintaining our comparative collection should call 310 206-7755. No previous knowledge of paleoethnobotany is required.

Top | About Backdirt | Contents | Next