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The module focuses on the practical hands-on aspects of sorting, identifying, quantifying and reporting archaeobotanical macro-remains, with primary emphasis on seeds. The teaching hours of this module will be held as a one weekÌý intensive short module in Reading Week of Term I.ÌýÌý

The module will train students to prepare basic descriptive archaeobotanical reports. Identification training will focus in most detail on the identification of major Old World seed crops (including Near East/European as well as some South/East Asian and African taxa).

The module will provide basic tools for identification that can be applied to the identification of other taxa.ÌýÌý

Aims of the module

This module focuses on the practical hands-on aspects of sorting, identification, quantification and reporting of archaeobotanical macro-remains, with a primary emphasis on seeds, including sessions on economic plant categories (such as oil seeds or cereals) and on systematic groupings (focusing on key families and orders, such as those that recur as arable weeds in the Old World). There will also be introductions to wood charcoal, parenchyma tissue and phytoliths, at a general plant anatomical level.

The module should prepare students to produce basic descriptive archaeobotanical reports based on macro-remains (seed) assemblages. Identification will focus in most detail on major Old World seed crops (including Near Eastern/European as well as South/East Asian and African taxa). The module will provide basic tools for identification that can be applied to other taxa, and students will be continually challenged to identify modern, artificially charred, and archaeological specimens. The main aim is for students to leave being able to sort archaeobotanical samples and effectively make identifications of their material.

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