Flotation samples and some paleoethnobotanical implications

The size and composition of carbonized plant assemblages are integral to explanations about human use of plants. Experimental data indicate that the techniques researchers use to collect and process flotation samples can negatively affect the yield of carbonized plant remains, and thus critically alter the results of analysis. Recovery rates can be linked to the characteristics of the sediment matrix and the specific remains involved. Because the record is subject to current ideas and biases and, it, in turn, influences how researchers assign meanings, the described variations are relevant to paleoethnobotanists and archaeologists alike.