Starch grain damage as an indicator of food processing

BABOT, MARÍA DEL PILAR

Phytolith and starch research in the Australian-Pacific-Asian regions: the state of the art, D.M. Hart and L.A. Wallis (eds.)

Pandanus Books for the Centre for Archaeological Research and the Department of Archaeological and Natural History, The Australian National University, Canberra

Lugar: Canberra; Año: 2003; p. 69 - 81

Current knowledge of processes affecting the structure, morphology and rate of survival of starch grains in archaeological contexts is limited. Furthermore, our knowledge of how ancient cultural practices can alter these particles is even less understood. In this paper the focus is on starch grain injury and modifications that may be caused by food processing activities such as air dehydration, roasting, charring, freezing, desaponification and milling by analyzing experimentally obtained and home-made Andean food products. Results demonstrate that particles having some starch features, but that are typically counted as dubious or non-starch, could and should be identified as damaged starch grains resulting from food processing. Additionally, it seems possible to link the different patterns of damage observed in granules to different procedures. This information could be used to acquire details about cultural behavior based on the damage to starch recovered from archaeological tools.