Starch grains identification

A variety of methods are used for identification and authentication, ranging from microscopes to the most complex and sophisticated scientific instruments available. In the examples provided in this chapter, we consider the microscopic identification of species-specific starch grains from South America to identify early traces of plant domestication. An SEM is used to identify plant remains from the Pacific and the very early spread of sweet potatoes from South America westward. A petrographic microscope is used to characterize the micromorphology and identify the contents of house floors in a prehistoric site in British Columbia. Finally GC/MS instrumentation is used to identify the chocolate contents of distinctive ceramic jars found in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. 

Microscopes play a big role in the examples of identification we discuss below -starch grains from South America from early domesticates plants, the introduction of the sweet potato, an important crop, to the islands of the Pacific, and the fine details of floor sediments in prehistoric British Columbia. Finally, a GC/MS identifies chocolate as the contents of ceramic cups found in ancient New Mexico. 

Material Starch Grains Instrumentation SEM Application Identification Place Ecuador Time Period Archaic, 9000 BP... 

Holst, Irene, Jorge Enrique Moreno P., and Dolores R. Pipemo. 2007. Identification of teosinte, maize, and Tripsacum in Mesoamerica by using pollen, starch grains, and phytoliths. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104 17608-17613. 

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