Plant microfossils in human dental calculus from Nemrik 9, a Pre-Pottery Neolithic site in Northern Iraq

Dados Bibliográficos

ID7192568
AutoresLinda Scott Cummings (0000-0002-3798-3026), Chad Yost, Chad L Yost (0000-0002-8867-7854), A Sołtysiak (0000-0002-9040-5022, University of Warsaw, autor correspondente)
Ano2016
Volume10
Fascículo4
Páginas883-891
Data de publicação2016-10-24
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoArchaeological and Anthropological Sciences (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1866-9557 • E-ISSN: 1866-9565
EditoraSpringer Nature (PUBLISHER • SG)
DOI10.1007/s12520-016-0411-3
OpenAlexW2538428552
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas25
Referências citadas28

Samples of dental calculus were taken from 11 human individuals buried at Nemrik 9, a Pre-Pottery Neolithic site in Northern Iraq. All of them represented the time span of ca. 9100–8600 bp. In total, 95 microfossils were retrieved from these samples, including 70 phytoliths, 9 starch granules or clusters of starch, 3 pollens, and 1 xylem fragment. Most microfossils could be attributed to C3 cool season cereals, most likely wheat and barley, which is consistent with previous knowledge about the composition of crops in early farming communities living in the Fertile Crescent. In addition, three phytoliths and one starch granule typical of C4 warm season grasses were recovered including one subangular and faceted starch granule, which might derive from a native grass, but is not diagnostic of any genus. Prior to assigning diagnostic status to this starch, exhaustive reference work on native grass seeds is necessary. The presence of one Phragmites phytolith suggests non-alimentary processing of reeds using teeth or perhaps using the stem of this grass as a toothbrush or toothpick

Archaeology · Biology · Botany · Geography · Phragmites · Phytolith · Pollen · Pottery · Starch · Wetland · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Ecology