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Understanding the depositional and post-depositional history of phytoliths in Dark Earth in the centre of Brussels: a micromorphological approach

par Devos, Yannick ;Vrydaghs, Luc
Référence Workshop on integrated microscopy approaches in archaeobotany (13-03-2016: University of Reading)
Publication Non publié, 2016-03-13

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Résumé :

During excavations in the centre of Brussels archaeologists are often faced with Dark Earth units. These are dark coloured, humic, poorly stratified units that have often formed over several centuries. They are typically the result of a complex interaction of several natural events and human activities, which lasts until the deposit gets sealed. This implies that the history of the artefacts and eco-facts within one single unit can be quite diverse. Micromorphology has shown to be a particular well adapted technique to understand the depositional and post-depositional history of the Dark Earth units, and of their components. One of these components are phytoliths, which do often preserve in contexts where other botanical remains such as pollen and macro-remains have vanished. Our contribution will focus on the contribution of micromorphology to the understanding of the taphonomy of the phytolith content of the Dark Earth units.