Agendas for Archaeobotany in the 21st Century: data, dissemination and new directions

Archaeobotany, here taken as the study of archaeological plant macrofossil remains, is a mature and widely practised area of study within archaeology. However, plants are rarely seen as active participants in past societies. Recent critical evaluations of the field of archaeobotany have focused on m...

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Main Author: Lisa A. Lodwick
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of York 2019-06-01
Series:Internet Archaeology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue53/7/index.html
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author Lisa A. Lodwick
author_facet Lisa A. Lodwick
author_sort Lisa A. Lodwick
collection DOAJ
description Archaeobotany, here taken as the study of archaeological plant macrofossil remains, is a mature and widely practised area of study within archaeology. However, plants are rarely seen as active participants in past societies. Recent critical evaluations of the field of archaeobotany have focused on methodological issues, chronological and regional overviews and biomolecular developments, rather than theoretical approaches or research practices. This article aims to reflect on future agendas in archaeobotany, which may improve the use and communication of archaeobotanical data, and invigorate discussion. First, the article briefly reviews the development of archaeobotany in Britain, before focusing discussion on the areas of data publication and archiving, and the application of archaeological theory to archaeobotanical remains. Opportunities provided by the 'plant turn' in social sciences and humanities are explored in relation to plant materiality. The use of the Internet in training and analysis is considered, before reflecting on how archaeobotany has been successfully communicated to broader audiences.
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spelling doaj.art-404730905efb4e37aef0cab79571bd292024-03-03T04:36:29ZengUniversity of YorkInternet Archaeology1363-53872019-06-015310.11141/ia.53.7Agendas for Archaeobotany in the 21st Century: data, dissemination and new directionsLisa A. Lodwick0All Souls CollegeArchaeobotany, here taken as the study of archaeological plant macrofossil remains, is a mature and widely practised area of study within archaeology. However, plants are rarely seen as active participants in past societies. Recent critical evaluations of the field of archaeobotany have focused on methodological issues, chronological and regional overviews and biomolecular developments, rather than theoretical approaches or research practices. This article aims to reflect on future agendas in archaeobotany, which may improve the use and communication of archaeobotanical data, and invigorate discussion. First, the article briefly reviews the development of archaeobotany in Britain, before focusing discussion on the areas of data publication and archiving, and the application of archaeological theory to archaeobotanical remains. Opportunities provided by the 'plant turn' in social sciences and humanities are explored in relation to plant materiality. The use of the Internet in training and analysis is considered, before reflecting on how archaeobotany has been successfully communicated to broader audiences.http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue53/7/index.htmlarchaeologyArchaeobotanypalaeoethnobotanyenvironmental archaeology
spellingShingle Lisa A. Lodwick
Agendas for Archaeobotany in the 21st Century: data, dissemination and new directions
Internet Archaeology
archaeology
Archaeobotany
palaeoethnobotany
environmental archaeology
title Agendas for Archaeobotany in the 21st Century: data, dissemination and new directions
title_full Agendas for Archaeobotany in the 21st Century: data, dissemination and new directions
title_fullStr Agendas for Archaeobotany in the 21st Century: data, dissemination and new directions
title_full_unstemmed Agendas for Archaeobotany in the 21st Century: data, dissemination and new directions
title_short Agendas for Archaeobotany in the 21st Century: data, dissemination and new directions
title_sort agendas for archaeobotany in the 21st century data dissemination and new directions
topic archaeology
Archaeobotany
palaeoethnobotany
environmental archaeology
url http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue53/7/index.html
work_keys_str_mv AT lisaalodwick agendasforarchaeobotanyinthe21stcenturydatadisseminationandnewdirections