ISES   20394
INSTITUTO SUPERIOR DE ESTUDIOS SOCIALES
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Differentiation of archaeological Maize (Zea mays L.) from native wild grasses based on starch grain morphology. Cases from the Central Pampas of Argentina.
Autor/es:
MUSAUBACH, MARÍA GABRIELA ; PLOS, ANABELA; BABOT, MARÍA DEL PILAR
Revista:
JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE
Editorial:
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
Referencias:
Lugar: Aceptado para su publicación 20 septiembre 2012; Año: 2013 vol. 40 p. 1186 - 1193
ISSN:
0305-4403
Resumen:
This paper presents, for the first time, a detailed study, from an archaeological
perspective, of the morphological characteristics of the starch grains within the kernels
of selected native wild grasses found in the Central Pampas of Argentina. We compared
native wild grasses to maize starch grains, which can be distinguished from each other
based on their size, shape and other attributes. The majority of the studied grains did not
share morphological characteristics with maize starch grains. Considering this, it can be
said that, if irregular and polyhedral grains with transverse or radial fissures dominate
the starch assemblage, maize identification may be done on the basis of both
morphology and size. Additionally, this research contributes to the characterization of
the starch grains of the Panicoideae subfamily, which includes maize. Several classes of
simple and compound starch grains are described and defined for native species of
Pooideae, Chloridoideae, Arundinoideae, and Panicoideae subfamilies. The results
obtained may constitute a baseline for the future determination of maize and wild grass
use in archaeological contexts belonging to Middle/Late Holocene hunter-gatherers in
the Pampas of Argentina and neighboring areas.