Abstract
Reference collections of phytoliths from plant taxa commonly used by the ancient inhabitants of an archaeological site are critical to researchers conducting analyses on these microbotanical remains. Phytoliths recovered from the site are compared to those in reference collections to make inferences about which taxa were being used, as well as where, why and how. This study presents one of the first reference collections of phytoliths from selected taxa likely to have been used by Native American peoples living in the Great Basin area. The results are presented as a list of taxa which we sampled, and that are known to have been used by these tribes, such as the Shoshone and Ute, with illustrations of the range of phytolith morphotypes produced by each taxon. Our hope is that this tool will prove to be a ready and valuable resource for any researchers conducting phytolith analysis at Great Basin Native American sites.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ball TB, Gardner JS, Anderson N (1999) Identifying inflorescence phytoliths from selected species of wheat (Triticum monococcum, T. dicoccon, T. dicoccoides, and T. aestivum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare and H. spontaneum (Gramineae). Am J Bot 86:1,615–1,623
Ball TB, Vrydaghs L, Mercer T et al (2015) A morphometric study of variance in articulated dendritic phytolith wave lobes within selected species of Triticeae and Aveneae. Veg Hist Archaeobot 26:85–97
Ball TB, Chandler-Ezell K, Dickau R et al (2016) Phytoliths as a tool for investigations of agricultural origins and dispersals around the world. J Archaeol Sci 68:32–45
Berlin AM, Ball TB, Thompson R et al (2003) Ptolemaic agriculture, “Syrian Wheat”, and Triticum aestivum. J Archaeol Sci 30:115–121
Madella M, Alexandre A, Ball TB (2005) International code for phytolith nomenclature 1.0. Ann Bot 96:253–260
McCune JL (2013) The long-term history of plant communities on southeastern Vancouver Island based on vegetation resurveys and phytolith analysis. Dissertation, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Morris LR (2008) Combining environmental history and soil phytolith analysis at the city of rocks national reserve: developing new methods in historical ecology. Doctoral dissertation, Utah State University, Logan
Neumann K, Albert RM, Ball TB et al (2019) International code for phytolith nomenclature (ICPN) 2.0. Ann Bot https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcz064
Pearce M (2017) Laying the foundation for a Fremont phytolith typology using select plant species native to Utah County. Master’s Thesis, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT
Pearsall DM (1989) Paleoethnobotany: a handbook of procedures. Academic Press, San Diego
Pearsall DM, Piperno DR, Dinan EH et al (1995) Distinguishing rice (Oryza sativa, Poaceae) from wild Oryza taxa through phytolith analysis: results of preliminary research. Econ Bot 49:183–196
Piperno DR (2006) Phytoliths: a comprehensive guide for archaeologists and paleoecologists. AltaMira Press, Lanham
Portillo M, Ball TB, Manwaring J (2006) Morphometric analysis of inflorescence phytoliths produced by Avena sativa L. and Avena strigosa Schreb. Econ Bot 60:2,121–2,129
The Plant List (2019) http://theplantlist.org/. Accessed Jan 2019
Utah State University (2017) Range plants of Utah. http://extension.usu.edu/rangeplants/ Accessed 20 Mar 2017
Wallis L (2003) An overview of leaf phytolith production patterns in selected northwest Australian flora. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 125:201–248
Welsh SL, Atwood ND, Goodrich S et al (2008) A Utah flora, 4 (revised) edn. Brigham Young University, Provo
Acknowledgements
Funding was provided by Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, Brigham Young University (US).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by L. Newsom.
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pearce, M., Ball, T.B. A study of phytoliths produced by selected native plant taxa commonly used by Great Basin Native Americans. Veget Hist Archaeobot 29, 213–228 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-019-00738-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-019-00738-1