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A methodological approach to the study of microbotanical remains from grinding stones: a case study in northern Gujarat (India)

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Abstract

The thorough reconstruction of subsistence practices throughout human history remains one of the most challenging questions in archaeological research. Analyses of microbotanical remains recovered from archaeological artefacts have greatly contributed to our knowledge of past livelihood strategies. However, certain methodological issues are seldom addressed throughout these analyses, including the integration of multiple proxies, the comparison between samples and the interpretation of control samples. This paper addresses these methodological concerns through the analysis of phytoliths and starch grains from a total of 80 samples from grinding tools from four archaeological occupations (ca. 7150–1900 cal bc) in northern Gujarat (NW India). The results were compared with 26 control samples from the same sedimentary matrix from which the tools were recovered and 12 control samples from laboratory consumables. Multivariate statistics were applied to (a) compare control samples with grinding stones to assess sample contamination and representativeness, (b) compare samples from different sites, and (c) identify tool clusters within a site. This study stresses the importance of the integrated analysis of phytoliths and starch grains and the application of multivariate statistics, which allow for stronger interpretations on the use and post-depositional trajectories of grinding stones, thus offering a solid framework for the reconstruction of past subsistence strategies. Moreover, the results show that the inhabitants of northern Gujarat continuously exploited small millets throughout the Holocene and that pulses, secondary at first, became a fundamental part of their subsistence strategy with the advent of settled life.

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Acknowledgments

This work has benefited from discussions with several researchers and the comments of three anonymous reviewers. Special thanks are due to P. Ajithprasad, D. Zurro, H. Barton, J. Ruiz-Pérez and the participants of the 9th International Meeting on Phytolith Research in Brussels (Belgium, September 2014), whose comments greatly improved a previous version of this manuscript. Fieldwork at LTS, DTR and VHV was carried out within the North Gujarat Archaeological Project (NoGAP) and funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (Programa de Ayudas para Proyectos Arqueológicos en el Exterior 2009, 2010 and 2011) and the Catalan Government (Programa EXCAVA 2009). The Archaeological Survey of India funded fieldwork at SKP and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness funded laboratory work (Programa I+D, HAR2010-16052). We are grateful to the members of the NoGAP and the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History of The MSU Baroda (Gujarat, India) for their help during the field and laboratory work in India, and to the Archaeological Survey of India for granting excavation permissions. JJGG acknowledges funding from a JAE-Predoc PhD grant (Spanish National Research Council and European Social Fund). CaSEs is a Grup de Recerca Emergent (SGR-e 1417) of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CaSEs–Complexity and Socio-Ecological Dynamics Research Group, Barcelona, Spain

    Juan José García-Granero, Carla Lancelotti & Marco Madella

  2. Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Institució Milà i Fontanals, Spanish National Research Council (IMF-CSIC), C/Egipcíaques, 15, 08001, Barcelona, Spain

    Juan José García-Granero & Marco Madella

  3. Department of Humanities, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), C/Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27, 08005, Barcelona, Spain

    Carla Lancelotti & Marco Madella

  4. ICREA–Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona, Spain

    Marco Madella

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  1. Juan José García-Granero
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  3. Marco Madella
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Correspondence to Juan José García-Granero.

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Communicated by K. Neumann.

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García-Granero, J.J., Lancelotti, C. & Madella, M. A methodological approach to the study of microbotanical remains from grinding stones: a case study in northern Gujarat (India). Veget Hist Archaeobot 26, 43–57 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-016-0557-z

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