Archaeobotany
Archaeobotany
Archaeobotany is part of environmental archaeology. It concerns the study of plant macro- and microremains (mainly seeds and wood, pollen) preserved on, or in association with, archaeological sites. Archaeobotany is mainly interested in the activities carried out by past populations, of which by far the most important one is subsistence. This means: what food people ate, how they obtained it, and how and where they stored and processed it once it had been collected. Archaeobotanists, however also look at trade, construction materials and aspects of ritual. In addition, archaeobotany also provides information about past environments, especially anthropogenic ones like fields or grassland.
Research topics
Taphonomical aspects (preservation, recovery techniques)
Human impact on the environment
History of the cultural landscape
Domestication of Food plants
History of food habits
Interdisciplinary
Knowledge of plant communities
Use of herbaria and seed collections
Knowledge of plants / plant morphology and anatomy
Plant migrations
