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FINDS - Macrobotanical Remains

Meltem Ag(cabay, Amy Bogaard, Mike Charles, Glynis Jones & Nicola Stone

This was the first year under the direction of the new team leaders, Mike Charles and Glynis Jones (Sheffield University) and Amy Bogaard (University of Nottingham). The team leaders present were Amy Bogaard and Mike Charles. The flotation officers were Meltem Ag(cabay and Nicola Stone, supported by Riza Büyüktemiz and Mev¬lut Sivas.

With thousands of archaeobotanical samples processed since 1995, the inherited system is tried and tested and is impressive in its scale and resources (expert local workforce, laboratory space etc.). Taking into account the recommendations of the previous archaeobotanical team and other team leaders, certain aspects of the system were modified, especially the laboratory analysis phase for priority and non-priority samples. A rapid assessment method was established which involved taking a subsample of coarse flot (about a teaspoon, 5 ml) and sorting it rapidly under the microscope. The count for each plant category was then multiplied up based on the total flot volume. Full sorting of some samples showed that the abundance estimate from rapid assessment were reasonably accurate.

Our processing of large quantities of soil has generated over 100 samples that are rich enough to be considered representative of the deposits from which they derive, and so warrant full detailed analysis. We hope that statistical analysis of the samples will eventually help to tease apart the different sources of archaeobotanical material at the site.

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