archaeobotany

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

the analysis of plant remains — seeds, fruits, wood charcoal, pollen, phytoliths, and starch granules — recovered from archaeological sites in order to reconstruct past plant use, agricultural origins, diet, vegetation history, and human environmental impact; also called paleoethnobotany, the discipline uses flotation, sieving, and microscopic examination to identify plant taxa and infer how ancient people cultivated, harvested, processed, and consumed plant resources