Michele Wollstonecroft | University College London (original) (raw)

Papers by Michele Wollstonecroft

This chapter analyses charred plant assemblages from the archaeological site EeRb 140, a Late Per... more This chapter analyses charred plant assemblages from the archaeological site EeRb 140, a Late Period open-air site situated on mid-altitude terraces along the South Thompson River. Over 30 taxa of plants were recovered from two hearth features, many of them edible, including five types of berries, two types of nuts and an edible root, as well as a variety of species that were most likely used as fuel and matting. To interpret the human activities represented at EeRb140, we compared and contrasted the assemblages with the ethnobotanical record as well as with archaeobotanical assemblages from other Late Period archaeological sites in the region, while bearing in mind the distinct characteristics and associated artifacts (e.g., lithic and faunal) of the hearths. The patterns suggest that EeRb 140 was a multi-purpose, seasonally employed work area, probably used by women from a nearby pit-house village in the spring and summer for preparing, and possibly preserving, roots and berries. ...

Archaeology International

This short paper introduces the special section of three articles under the general heading of 'C... more This short paper introduces the special section of three articles under the general heading of 'Civilisation and the Construction of the Human Niche', organised by the 'Domestication, Niche Construction and the Anthropocene' research network at the UCL Institute of Archaeology.

Vegetation History and Archaeobotany

""This paper explores the idea that past and present food processing traditions, practi... more ""This paper explores the idea that past and present food processing traditions, practiced by modern humans and our Homo ancestors, are tantamount to evolutionary niche construction. It examines how the introduction of simple processing techniques by our Homo ancestors, such as pulverizing and thermal processing (e.g. roasting, baking, boiling), may have triggered radical shifts in their dietary behaviours, which further promoted advances in associated ecological and technological knowledge, skills and tools. It is argued that the consequences of food processing niche construction, e.g. changing dietary selection, increasing diet breadth and improved access to essential nutrients, are of evolutionary significance because they can be linked to changes in the Homo brain and body, as well as increased longevity and disease prevention ""

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Jan 24, 2012

The objective of this dissertation is to investigate how developments in post-harvest systems may... more The objective of this dissertation is to investigate how developments in post-harvest systems may have influenced hunter-gatherer subsistence change during the Epipalaeolithic (23,970-11,990 14C yr BP cal) of Southwest Asia. The term post-harvest system, as it is used here, refers to the knowledge, technology and co-ordination of labour that are necessary to convert raw plants into edible products and/or storable yields. It is argued that post-harvest systems promote increased abundance in four ways: i) permitting a wider variety of plants or plant parts to be added to the diet ii) transforming a single plant part into several forms of food iii) producing physical or chemical changes that improve the nutrient value and iv) reducing spoilage and/or transforming seasonally available resources into to year-round staple foods. Moreover, it is argued that the development of post-harvest systems entailed more than simple increase: that it transformed hunter-gatherer productive systems. A ...

In Makibayashi K and Uchikado M Studies of Landscape History on East Asian Inland Seas Research Institute For Humanity and Nature Kyoto, 2010

Full text not available from this repository.

The objectives of the archaeobotanical research at Cabeço da Amoreira are to retrieve and analyze... more The objectives of the archaeobotanical research at Cabeço da Amoreira are to retrieve and analyze charred plant macro-remains (seeds, charcoal and non-wood vegetative tissue) in order to identify the types of plants and plant-parts used by the Mesolithic group(s) who occupied this site. With this information we aim to address questions about a) the composition of the hunter-gather diet; b) non-food Mesolithic plant uses; c) the vegetation zones that these groups exploited; and d) the seasons in which the plants were collected. In this paper we report the results of the first season of archaeobotanical sampling at Cabeço da Amoreira. Initial field sampling and laboratory analyses were focused on investigating site-formation processes to help us distinguish between site activity areas and assess how plants became charred and deposited within different parts of the midden.

by Füsun ERTUG, Ferran Antolín, Marian Berihuete-Azorín, Christoph Brombacher, Danai Chondrou, Stefanie Jacomet, Yurena Naranjo-Mayor, Renata Perego, Bigna Steiner, Michele Wollstonecroft, and Haris Procopiou

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2011

Plant processing provides an essential framework for archaeobotanical interpretation since practi... more Plant processing provides an essential framework for archaeobotanical interpretation since practices of processing lie between the ancient acquisition of plants and the preserved remains of archaeology. Crop-processing stages have received much attention as they contribute towards the interpretation of plants recovered from archaeological sites, linking them to routine human activities that generated these plant remains. Yet, there are many other important aspects of the human past that can be explored through food processing studies that are much less often investigated, e.g. how culinary practices may have influenced resource selection, plant domestication and human diet, health, evolution and cultural identity. Therefore, this special issue of AAS on "Food Processing Studies in Archaeobotany and Ethnobotany" brings together recent pioneering methodological and interpretive archaeobotanical approaches to the study of ancient food processing. This new research, which involves archaeobotany, ethnoarchaeology, ethnobotany and experimental methods, encompasses investigations into dietary choice, cultural traditions and cultural change as well as studies of the functional properties (i.e. performance characteristics) of edible plants, and the visibility as well as dietary benefits and consequences of different food processing methods.

Vegetation History and Archaeobotany

Taxonomic advancement in the genus Bolboschoenus (Cyperaceae, formerly included in the genus Scir... more Taxonomic advancement in the genus Bolboschoenus (Cyperaceae, formerly included in the genus Scirpus) have resulted in the re-classification of the plant previously known as Bolboschoenus maritimus (synonym Scirpus maritimus) into several closely-related but distinct Bolboschoenus species This improved taxonomy is of importance for archaeobotanical investigations of ancient sites within the temperate zones, where this genus frequently occurs, because it allows more precise definitions of the ecological requirements and growing habits of each species. Moreover, it details the distinct morphological and anatomical characteristics of the fruit (nutlets) of each species. Using these new nutlet classification criteria, we re-examined charred archaeological specimens which had previously been identified as B. maritimus (or S. maritimus), from five Near Eastern late Pleistocene and early Holocene village sites: Abu Hureyra, Hallan Çemi, Demirköy, Çatalhöyük and Aswad. Because three of these sites are located in Anatolia, data on the recent occurrence of Bolboschoenus in Turkey were also investigated. All archaeobotanical specimens were found to be B. glaucus. This species was also found to be the most common Bolboschoenus in present-day Turkey, indicating that it has a long history of occurrence in this region. The environmental, ecological and economic implications of this new information suggest that it is entirely feasible that this plant provided late Pleistocene and Holocene Near Eastern people with a dependable and possibly a staple food source.

While it is generally agreed that food processing has had a role in human evolution, the specifi... more While it is generally agreed that food processing
has had a role in human evolution, the specific ways that is
has affected our evolution are not well understood. Using a
Niche Construction Theory (NCT) perspective, coupled with
methodologies borrowed from “post-harvest” research in the
plant sciences, this paper investigates the means and mechanism
by which food processing is of evolutionary consequence.
The central tenet of NCT is that organisms have an active role
in their own evolution through reciprocal interactions with their
environments; niche construction is understood to occur when
organisms initiate long-term changes to their environments that
modify the selection pressures on themselves and their
descendants (and on other organisms in the environment).
Humans and our hominin ancestors are considered to be the
ultimate niche constructors due to our ability to modify
selection pressures through diverse culturally generated and
transmitted cultural means, i.e. cultural niche construction. In
this paper, post-harvest methods are used to identify how food
processing could feasibly have permitted hominins to modify
their evolutionary selection pressures. Food processing is
shown to facilitate access to increasing amounts of digestible
nutrients and energy (kilocalories/kilojoules) as well as
promoting increased dietary breadth and making possible the
production of safer and more stable foods. It is argued that these
advancements catalysed related technological and ecological
skills and knowledge, which together with the nutritional
benefits, further triggered changes in hominin brain and body
and locomotory adaptations and increased longevity, disease
prevention and juvenile survival rates.

Tradiciones & transformaciones en Etnobotánica, Proceedings V Congreso Internacional de Etnobotánica, ICEB 2009, eds. M L Pochettino, A Lado and PM Arennas, pp. 139-144. , 2010

"This paper explores the idea that past and present food processing traditions, practiced by mode... more "This paper explores the idea that past and present food processing traditions, practiced by modern humans and our Homo ancestors, are tantamount to evolutionary niche construction. It examines how the introduction of simple processing techniques by our Homo ancestors, such as pulverizing and thermal processing (e.g. roasting, baking, boiling), may have triggered radical shifts in their dietary behaviours, which further promoted advances in associated ecological and
technological knowledge, skills and tools. It is argued that the consequences of food processing niche construction, e.g. changing dietary selection, increasing diet breadth and improved access to essential nutrients, are of evolutionary significance because they can be linked to changes in the Homo brain and body, as well as increased longevity and disease prevention
"

" From Foragers to Farmers: Papers in Honour of Gordon C. Hillman", eds. AS Fairbairn and E Weiss,, 2009

This paper examines how plant food processing techniques developed by hunter-gatherers during the... more This paper examines how plant food processing techniques developed by hunter-gatherers during the Near Eastern Epipalaeolithic (ca. 23970–11990 cal B.P.) may have influenced species selection, eating habits and access to critical nutrients. A case study is presented that investigates how pulverising and thermal treatments affect the tubers of Bolboschoenus maritimus (L.) Palla (sea clubrush), a plant that is frequently recovered from ancient sites in the Levant and Anatolia. A range of microscopy techniques
was employed to observe the changes in tuber microstructure caused by individual processing techniques. The results show that pulverising is a necessary step in transforming these tubers into edible products because it disrupts the cell walls, facilitating tissue softening and access to intracellular nutrients. Heating, while necessary to cook the intracellular starch, does not promote tissue softening in the tubers of this species. The results demonstrate how the biologically inherited functional properties of a species interact with specific food processing techniques to promote or hinder its edibility and nutrient bioaccessibility.

Archaeology International

Vegetation History and Archaeobotany

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Jan 24, 2012

In Makibayashi K and Uchikado M Studies of Landscape History on East Asian Inland Seas Research Institute For Humanity and Nature Kyoto, 2010

Full text not available from this repository.

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2011

Vegetation History and Archaeobotany

Tradiciones & transformaciones en Etnobotánica, Proceedings V Congreso Internacional de Etnobotánica, ICEB 2009, eds. M L Pochettino, A Lado and PM Arennas, pp. 139-144. , 2010

" From Foragers to Farmers: Papers in Honour of Gordon C. Hillman", eds. AS Fairbairn and E Weiss,, 2009

Until recently, serious archaeological discussion about the role of plant foods in the human diet... more Until recently, serious archaeological discussion about the role of plant foods in the human diet, evolution, and health, and the essential roles of plant harvesting and processing systems in prehistoric economies have been overlooked in favour of meat and hunting. Yet, it is well known that a diet consisting of protein alone has biochemical and physiological consequences that cause ill-health and ultimately death; among the consequences are poisoning of the central nervous system proficiency
and impaired renal function, bone de-mineralisation, impaired gut function, and disturbed hormonal production, altogether creating a perfect storm that brings about nausea, discomfort of the digestive system, weight loss, and deterioration in health. This chapter examines these problems, demonstrating that, as well as with the production of potentially toxic ammonia, the most likely health risk in a protein only
diet is what it fails to provide, i.e., adequate production of glucose to satisfy the requirements of glucose-dependent tissues such as the human brain and red blood cells, as well as a range of critical micronutrients, which are readily available from plants. Plants are good sources of carbohydrates, polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamin C, minerals, phytochemicals (e.g., polyphenols, stanols/sterols), and nonstarch polysaccharides (dietary fibre), all of which may contribute to alleviating the adverse consequences listed above. We then examine factors that influence peoples’ plant food choices, and conclude that there is interdependence between culinary knowledge, technical choice, and dietary decisions pertaining to edible plants. It is argued that, on a global scale, this interdependence explains much about the different regional historical processes that gave rise to local culinary and husbandry traditions.