https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2703-031X
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ABSTRACT
Morphometric analysis offers an alternative or augmentation to traditional archaeobotanical methods to address differences within and between plant species and their remains, refining and enhancing taxonomic resolution. Morphometrics, the measurement of size and shape, and the multivariate statistical analysis of generated quantitative variables, have long played a major role in biological research, including plant taxonomy and systematics, although its application in archaeobotany is relatively recent. Over the last few decades, there has been an increasing interest in the use of morphometrics for analysing a varied range of archaeological plant materials (mainly seeds, pollen, phytoliths, and starch grains). In particular, morphometrics have contributed to the study of the domestication and spread of many cereals world-wide, as well as that of other taxa including legumes, underground storage organs (USO), and fruits (such as olives, grapes, and dates). This paper reviews current methodologies, recent applications, and advances in the use of morphometrics in archaeobotanical research, discusses its role in exploring major research questions, and suggests possible future directions for its use.
Acknowledgements
MP and TBB are founder members of the International Committee for Phytolith Morphometrics (ICPM), appointed and under the direction of the International Phytolith Society (IPS).
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Dr Marta Portillo was a Marie Sklodowska Curie Fellow at the University of Reading. She is an environmental archaeologist specialised in phytoliths in integration with geoarchaeological methods, as well as with experimental and ethnoarchaeological approaches. Her field of expertise investigates human–environment interactions and the developments of cultural, economic and technological behaviours in the Western Mediterranean and the Near East. She currently serves at the board of the International Phytolith Society (IPS).
Dr Terry B. Ball is a Professor of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University. PhD in Archaeobotany specialised in phytolith systematics, morphometrics, and Old World cereals. Recent publications include co-authoring Phytoliths as a tool for investigations of agricultural origins and dispersals around the world, Morphometric Analysis of phytoliths: recommendations towards standardisation from the International Committee for Phytolith Morphometrics, and A morphometric study of variance in articulated dendritic phytolith wave lobes within selected species of Triticeae and Aveneae.
Dr Michael Wallace is a prehistorian and archaeobotanist whose research focuses on the emergence, spread and development of the agricultural way of life. Michael utilises a diverse set of innovative analytical approaches including stable isotopes, morphometrics and ‘big data’ statistics.
Dr Charlene Murphy is an environmental archaeologist and archaeobotanist whose primary research area is currently in South Asia. Her main research questions surround examining pathways to agricultural domestication in North America, Near East and South Asia. Her recent publications include work on South Asian pulses Cajanus cajanus (pigeon pea) and Macrotyloma uniflorium (horse gram) as well as aspects of indigenous agricultural domestication in South Asia.
Dr Sebastián Pérez-Díaz is an environmental archaeologist currently at the CNRS UMR 5600 (University of Lyon). His main research is focused on the interactions between humans and the ecosystem along the Western Mediterranean, from the analysis of vegetal microremains (pollens, spores and non-pollen palynomorphs) and other palaeoenvironmental tools (magnetic susceptibility, loss-on-ignition, microcharcoals). He has published recent articles in journals such as Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, The Holocene, and Quaternary International.
Dr Mónica Ruiz-Alonso is an archaeobotanist specialised in wood charcoal and her research focuses on the management of plant resources both in the Pleistocene and Holocene of southwest Europe. She works in different archaeological sites in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Morocco, among others.
Dr Francisco Javier Aceituno is a Professor in Archaeology at the University of Antioquia, expert in neotropical archaeology, early peopling of South America and origins of agriculture in the Americas. He has recently published, among other journals, in Quaternary Science Reviews, Quaternary International, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, Journal of Archaeological Science, and Latin American Antiquity.
Dr José Antonio López-Sáez, a Tenured Scientist at the Institute of History (Spanish National Research Council), writes on aspects related to prehistoric plant use, anthropisation dynamics and the origin of agriculture. He has also carried out various palaeoecological projects focusing on climatic change and cultural response. Among his most recent articles are those published in SCI journals such as Quaternary Science Reviews, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Quaternary International, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, The Holocene, Quaternary Research, and Vegetation History and Archaeobotany.
ORCID
Marta Portillo http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2703-031X
Michael Wallace http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2355-5565
Charlene Murphy http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1486-9439
Sebastián Pérez-Díaz http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2702-0058
Mónica Ruiz-Alonso http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7794-4451
Francisco Javier Aceituno http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5727-8826
José Antonio López-Sáez http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3122-2744