Preservation of plant evidence
Charring, waterlogging, drying and mineralisation preserve different plant materials. Larger remains include seeds and chaff; pollen, starch and phytoliths require suitable microscopic study. Wood and charcoal supply additional evidence.
Plants served as fuel, building and craft materials as well as food. Interpreting a remain’s use requires its archaeological setting rather than assuming every plant fragment was eaten.
Sampling and identification
Flotation and wet sieving recover small remains from recorded sediment samples. Historic England describes flotation of charred material and wet sieving of waterlogged remains, with handling suited to preservation.
Microscopes and known reference specimens support identification. Differences in sample volume, recovery and preservation can distort comparisons; seed totals cannot be treated uncritically as differences in ancient consumption.
From remains to past activities
Assemblages of crops, weeds, chaff, charcoal and other remains inform processing, storage, cultivation and vegetation. They represent selected, discarded and preserved material rather than a complete inventory of past plant life.
Plant material can also be radiocarbon-dated, but residual or intrusive specimens can weaken its relationship to an activity. Identification, quantities, context and chronology must be assessed together.