About Us

Paleoethnobotany Laboratory

The MU lab was established by Deborah M. Pearsall in 1978. Pearsall and students conducted research into people-plant interrelationships through the study of macroremains (charred, desiccated, or waterlogged plant tissues), phytoliths, and starch grains. The primary focus of our research was the lowland Neotropics, but projects were also undertaken in highland Peru, the Near East, North America, England, the Pacific, and China.

People

Dr. Deborah M. Pearsall, Director

A paleoethnobotanist specializing in macroremains, phytolith, and starch grain analysis, Dr. Pearsall's areas of interest include South American archaeology, the origins of agriculture in the New World, and paleoethnobotanical methods. She retired in September 2013, and as Professor Emerita is finishing up projects. Departmental Webpage

Alumni, with selected publications

Karol Chandler-Ezell, PhD (MU)

Athens, J. S., J. V. Ward, D. M. Pearsall, K. Chandler-Ezell, D. W. Blinn, A. E. Morrison. 2015. Early prehistoric maize in northern highland Ecuador. Latin American Antiquity, in press.

Chandler-Ezell, K. and D. M. Pearsall. 2003 “Piggyback” microfossil processing: Joint starch and phytolith sampling from stone tools. Phytolitharian Newsletter 15(3):2-8.

Chandler-Ezell, K., D. M. Pearsall and J. A. Zeidler. 2006. Root and tuber phytoliths and starch grains document manioc (Manihot esculenta), arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea), and llerén (Calathea sp.) at the Real Alto site, Ecuador. Economic Botany 60(2):103-120.

Pearsall, D. M., K. Chandler-Ezell and A. Chandler-Ezell. 2003. Identifying maize in Neotropical sediments and soils using cob phytoliths. Journal of Archaeological Science 30(5):611-627.

Pearsall, D. M., K. Chandler-Ezell and J. A. Zeidler. 2004. Maize in ancient Ecuador: Results of residue analysis of stone tools from the Real Alto site. Journal of Archaeological Science 31:423-442.

Shawn Collins, PhD (MU)

Collins, S. K. 2001. Phytolith Evidence for Prehistoric Crop Production within Check Dam Features in Southwestern Colorado. M.A. Thesis, University of Missouri.

Collins, S. K. 2009. Prehispanic Agriculture and Climate on the Pacific Slope of Guatemala. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Missouri.

Elliott, M., C. T. Fisher, B. A. Nelson, R. S. Molina Garza, S. K. Collins, D. M. Pearsall. 2010. Climate, agriculture, and cycles of human occupation over the last 4000 yr in southern Zacatecas, Mexico. Quaternary Research 74:26-35.

Neff, H., D. M. Pearsall, J. G. Jones, B. Arroyo, S. K. Collins and D. E. Friedel. 2006. Early Maya adaptive patterns: Mid-late Holocene paleoenvironmental evidence from Pacific Guatemala. Latin American Antiquity 17(3):287-315.

Neil Duncan, PhD (MU)

Duncan, N. A. 2003. At the Edge of the Puna: Archaeological Test Excavation and Sampling for Phytolith Signatures of Ancient Corrals at Antibal, Peru. M.A. Thesis, University of Missouri.

Duncan, N. A. 2010. Paleoethnobotany of Buena Vista: A Case Study of Ritual Feasting in Late Preceramic Peru. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Missouri.

Duncan, N. A., D. M. Pearsall and R. A. Benfer Jr. 2009. Gourd and squash artifacts yield starch grains of feasting foods from Preceramic Peru. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 106(32):13202-13206.

Thomas Hart, PhD (UConn, MA MU)

Hart, T., 2007. A Stroll Through the Park: Evaluating the Usefulness of Phytolith and Starch Grain Remains Found on Medieval Sherds from Wicken, Northamptonshire, England. M.A. Thesis, University of Missouri.

Hart, T. C. 2011. Evaluating the usefulness of phytoliths and starch grains found on survey artifacts. Journal of Archaeological Science 38(12):3244-3253.

Hart, T. C. and T. H. Ives. 2013. Preliminary starch grain evidence of ancient stone tool use at the Early Archaic (9,000 B.P.) site of Sandy Hill, Mashantucket, Connecticut. Ethnobiology Letters 4:87-95.

Andrea Hunter, PhD (MU)

Hunter, A. A. 1992. Utilization of Hordeum pusillum (Little Barley) in the Midwest United States: Applying Rindos' Co-evolutionary Model of Domestication. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Missouri.

Hunter, A. A. and B. R. Gassner. 1998. Evaluation of the Flote-Tech machine-assisted flotation system. American Antiquity 63(1):143-156.

Sissel Johannessen, MA (MU)

Johannessen, S. 1984. Paleoethnobotany. In American Bottom Archaeology, edited by C. J. Bareis and J. W. Porter, pp. 197-214. University of Illinois Press, Urbana.

Johannessen, S. 1993a . Food, dishes, and society in the Mississippi Valley. In Foraging and Farming in the Eastern Woodlands, edited by C. M. Scarry, pp. 182-205. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.

Johannessen, S. 1993b. Farmers of the Late Woodland. In Foraging and Farming in the Eastern Woodlands, edited by C. M. Scarry, pp. 57-77. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.

Johannessen, S. and C. A. Hastorf (editors). 1994. Corn and Culture in the Prehistoric New World. Westview Press, Boulder.

Amanda Logan, PhD (UMich, MA MU)

Logan, A. L. 2006. The Application of Phytolith and Starch Grain Analysis to Understanding Formative Period Subsistence, Ritual, and Trade on the Taraco Peninsula, Highland Bolivia. M.A. Thesis, University of Missouri.

Logan, A. L. and A. C. D’Andrea. 2012. Oil palm, arboriculture, and changing subsistence practices during Kintampo times (3600-3200 BP, Ghana). Quaternary International 249:63-71.

Logan, A. L., C. A. Hastorf and D. M. Pearsall. 2012 "Let's drink together": Early ceremonial use of maize in the Titicaca Basin. Latin American Antiquity 23(3):235-258.

Meghann O'Brien, MA (MU)

O'Brien, M. 2010. The Identification of Prehistoric Amazonian Slash-and-Burn Cultivation Practices using Agent-based Modeling. M.A. Thesis, University of Missouri.

Pearsall, D. M., T. Hart, A. Logan, N. Duncan and M. O’Brien. 2005. Investigating the impact of cooking on microfossil assemblages. Paper presented at the 2005 Chacmool Conference, “Tools of the Trade: Methods, Techniques, and Innovative Approaches in Archaeology”, Calvary, Canada.

Marcelle Umlauf, MA (MU)

Pearsall, D. M., D. R. Piperno, E. H. Dinan, M. Umlauf, Z. Zhao and R. A. Benfer Jr. 1995. Distinguishing rice (Oryza sativa Poaceae) from wild Oryza species through phytolith analysis: Results of preliminary research. Economic Botany 49(2):183-196.

Umlauf, M. 1988. Paleoethnobotanical Investigations at the Initial Period Site of Cardal, Peru. M.A. Thesis, University of Missouri.

Umlauf, M. 1993. Phytolith evidence for Initial Period maize at Cardal, central coast of Peru. In Current Research in Phytolith Analysis: Applications in Archaeology and Paleoecology, edited by D. M. Pearsall and D. R. Piperno, pp. 125-129. MASCA Research Papers in Science and Archaeology, Vol. 10. MASCA, The University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Cesar Veintimilla, MA (MU)

Veintimilla, C. I. 1998 Analysis of Past Vegetation in the Jama River Valley, Manabí Province, Ecuador. M.A. Thesis, University of Missouri.

Peter Warnock, PhD (MU)

Cahill, J., K. Reinhard, D. Tarler and P. J. Warnock. 1991. Scientists examine remains of ancient bathroom. Biblical Archaeology Review 17(3):64-69.

Warnock, P. J. 1998. From plant domestication to phytolith interpretation: The history of paleoethnobotany in the Near East. Near Eastern Archaeology 61(4):238-252.

Warnock, P. J. 2007. Identification of Ancient Olive Oil Processing Methods based on Olive Remains. BAR International Series 1635. Archaeopress, Oxford. (Dissertation)

Warnock, P. J. and K. J. Reinhard. 1992. Methods for extracting pollen and parasite eggs from latrine soils. Journal of Archaeological Science 261-264.

Zhijun Zhao, PhD (MU)

Gu, Y., Z. Zhao and D. M. Pearsall. 2013. Phytolith morphology research on wild and domesticated rice species in East Asia. Quaternary International 287:141-148.

Pearsall, D. M., D. R. Piperno, E. H. Dinan, M. Umlauf, Z. Zhao and R.A. Benfer Jr. 1995. Distinguishing rice (Oryza sativa Poaceae) from wild Oryza species through phytolith analysis: Results of preliminary research. Economic Botany 49(2):183-196.

Zhao, Z. 1991. A Methodological Study of Phytolith Analysis and its Application to Early Agriculture in Northwestern China. M.A. Thesis, University of Missouri.

Zhao, Z. 1996 Rice Domestication in the Middle Yangtze Region, China: An Application of Phytolith Analysis. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Missouri.

Zhao, Z. 1998 The Middle Yangtze region in China is one place where rice was domesticated: Phytolith evidence from the Diaotonghuan Cave, Northern Jiangxi. Antiquity 72:885-897.

Zhao, Z. and D. M. Pearsall. 1998. Experiments for improving phytolith extraction from soils. Journal of Archaeological Science 25:587-598.

Zhao, Z., D. M. Pearsall, R. A. Benfer Jr. and D. R. Piperno. 1998. Distinguishing rice (Oryza sativa Poaceae) from wild Oryza species through phytolith analysis, II: Finalized method. Economic Botany 52(2):134-145.

Zhao, Z. and D. R. Piperno. 2000. Late Pleistocene/Holocene environments in the Middle Yangtze River valley, China and rice (Oryza sativa L.) domestication: The phytolith evidence. Geoarchaeology 15(2):203-222.

In addition to these alumni of the lab, former MU students Ann Biddle, Elizabeth Dinan, Jason Fenton, Bill Grimm, Sara Stewart, and Michael Trimble contributed in substantive ways to phytolith studies at MU.