No stone unturned: Using experimental archaeology and residue analysis to improve our understanding of Crimean plant exploitation during the Late Pleniglacial.

This thesis focuses on the use of experimental archaeology and residues analysis to further our understanding of the plant exploitation possibilities on the Crimean Peninsula during the Late Pleniglacial period (19 -15 cal BP). Crimean plant exploitation during this period is not well understood despite palaeoenvironmental, archaeological and ethnobotanical data being available. The aim was to elicit the types of residues that would have been collected and how these residues could be made useful in archaeological applications. This was done by executing several experiments with stone tools and plants likely to have been on the peninsula during that period. The results showed interesting plant specific correlations with the tools as well as a consistent performance of starch accumulation across all tools. These results are a vital step towards creating a broader and a more inclusive reference collection for wild plants in order to understand the residues and what we need to look for...Show moreThis thesis focuses on the use of experimental archaeology and residues analysis to further our understanding of the plant exploitation possibilities on the Crimean Peninsula during the Late Pleniglacial period (19 -15 cal BP). Crimean plant exploitation during this period is not well understood despite palaeoenvironmental, archaeological and ethnobotanical data being available. The aim was to elicit the types of residues that would have been collected and how these residues could be made useful in archaeological applications. This was done by executing several experiments with stone tools and plants likely to have been on the peninsula during that period. The results showed interesting plant specific correlations with the tools as well as a consistent performance of starch accumulation across all tools. These results are a vital step towards creating a broader and a more inclusive reference collection for wild plants in order to understand the residues and what we need to look for in the field from an archaeological and palaeobotanical perspective.Show less

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No stone unturned: Using experimental archaeology and residue analysis to improve our understanding of Crimean plant exploitation during the Late Pleniglacial.