c1447d0d_Americans_Prehistoric_Glossary__e_and_or_used_by_human_beings_
[Anthropology] Archaeobotany
Botany is the study of plants. Archaeobotany is a specialized type of botany in which scientists study plant remains from sites excavated by archaeologists. Plant remains such as bark, wood, seeds, and nut shells are often found where people once lived, but rarely in an unaltered state. Most preserved plant remains have been carbonized, burned into charcoal through contact with fire. Plant remains are found by sieving dirt through fine-mesh screen wire. Often, archaeobotanists use a process called flotation to recover plant remains. Dirt is placed into a container of water and gently shaken. Ideally, once released from the dirt, plant charcal floats to the surface where it can be collected. Archaeobotanists identify plant charcoal by comparing the shape and appearance of each specimen with modern examples. Using the identfications of the different plant remains, archaeobotanists learn about past environments, human diet, and other uses of plants, such as the making of fabric, and farming practices. For example, changes in the size of seeds of certain native plants suggest that they were improved by cultivation. Information from the archaeobotanist is combined with that of other scientists to develop a more complete picture of the past.
Native Americans:Prehistoric:Glossary
Anthropology is the study of origins of human beings and their cultures worldwide. In addition to documenting a particular culture, anthropologists are interested in how and why human culture changes. The science of anthropology is divided into several subfields including physical anthropology, the study of the origins and development of human beings; cultural anthropology, the study of human culture or the means by which human beings sustain life; linguistics, the study of human language; and archaeology, the study of human life based primarily on the recovery of artifacts, objects made and/or used by human beings.