McCown Archaeobotany Laboratory Reports

The McCown Archaeobotany Laboratory Reports are generated by the McCown Archaeobotany Laboratory housed in the Kroeber Hall room 65 at UC Berkeley. The McCown Lab is directed by Professor Christine Hastorf of the Department of Anthropology and is affiliated with the Archaeological Research Facility. The McCown Lab specializes in what is called paleoethnobotany or archaeobotany--the study of plants used by humans in the past. For further information please visit the McCown Laboratory website.

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88. Field Starch Extraction from Ground Stone: Experiment and Protocol Recommendations

(2019)

This report presents an experiment in which four starch sampling methods are compared in order to identify the most successful and effective technique for starch extraction from large groundstone and milling features in the field. Testing archaeological specimens in situ is necessary when the artifact is too large or cumbersome to bring back to a laboratory. In addition, preliminary testing in the field allows researchers to obtain quick results thatprovides guidance for ongoing excavation and sampling methods.

Compilation of Phytolith and Starch Images of Taxa Relevant to the Contemporary Caribbean

(2018)

In Spring 2018, Natasha A. Fernández-Pérez approached Christine A. Hastorf because she wanted to do a Directed Reading on phytolith and starch applications to archaeology. Since she wanted to work on the Historical/Contemporary Caribbean, where there plantscape has been affected by colonialism, imperialism and globalization, the readings ranged from all over the Neotropics and included few relevant plants from the Old World (e.g. rice, bananas and Near Eastern cereals).