Ancient Starch Research

What role did plant resources have in the evolution of the human species? Why and how have plants been managed and transported to new environments? Where, how, and why were plants domesticated and why do the patterns vary in different parts of the world? What is the relationship between the intensification of food production and the rise of complex societies? Numerous new studies are using starch granules discovered in archaeological contexts to answer these questions and improve our knowledge of past human behaviour and environmental variation. Given the substantial body of successful research, the time has clearly come for a comprehensive description of ancient starch research and its potential for archaeologists. This book fills these roles by describing the fundamental principles underlying starch research, guiding researchers through the methodology, reviewing the results of significant case studies, and pointing the way to future avenues for research. The joint product of over two dozen archaeological scientists, "Ancient Starch Research" aims to bring the important new field of ancient starch analysis to the attention of a wider range of scholars and to provide them with the information needed to embark on their own research.

ISBN 1598740180   Pages 352 ISBN13 9781598740189 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher Left Coast Press Inc   Weight (grammes) 1007 Imprint Left Coast Press Inc   Published in Walnut Creek Format Hardback   Height (mm) 235 Publication date 15 Jan 2006   Width (mm) 156 DEWEY 930.1   Spine width (mm) 26 DEWEY edition DC22   Academic level Tertiary education, Professional / Scholarly

* PrefaceHuw Barton and Robin Torrence* Starch and Archaeology Robin Torrence* Biology of StarchBeth Gott, Huw Barton, Delwen Samuel, and Robin Torrence* MicroscopyHuw Barton and Richard Fullagar* Starch PathwaysWendy Beck and Robin Torrence* TaphonomyHuw Barton and Peter J. Mathews* Reference CollectionsJudith Field* Description, Classification, and IdentificationRobin Torrence* Starch in SedimentsRobin Torrence* Starch on ArtifactsRichard Fullagar* Modified StarchDelwen Samuel* Looking AheadHuw Barton and Robin Torrence

"This book is a collaborative effort brought together over several years by a group of scholars, primarily archaeologists and particularly based in Austalia. They wished to emphasize the importance and potential contributions of ancient starch research, and to produce a basic textbook on how this reasearch is currently being undertaken and the challenges the field faces. They were not seeking to produce a definitive 'how-to' guide, but rather sought to treat methods comprehensively while at the same time presenting numerous case studies, experiments, and new ideas. They have succeeded admirably.... The writing is very easy to follow, whatever the background of the reader, yet still conveys the more technical information needed to understand and appreciate the meaning of starch granule form. The text flows very well from chapter to chapter, despite the multiplicity of authors, and I always found it enjoyable and easy to return to as I read on.... Ancient Starch Research is essential for any researcher engaged in ancient starch rsearch, any student who is thinking about working in this area, and anyone who wants to understand the basis for interpretation in this field in terms of strengths, weaknesses, methods, and potential. It is an outstanding book and I recommend it most highly." aBrian Kooyman, Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology

 Be the first to write a customer review