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An assessment of microCT technology for the investigation of charred archaeological parenchyma from house sites at Kuk Swamp, Papua New Guinea

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Abstract

Archaeological parenchyma is analysed using microCT to enable virtual histological examination and taxonomic identification to species level. MicroCT images are compared with reflected light microscopy (RLM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of fresh, desiccated and charred reference specimens. These results reveal differences in cell dimensions depending upon sample preparation and highlight the importance of using appropriately prepared reference material. A reference library is provided as supplemental material to address a lack of available imagery of reference specimens. MicroCT analysis confirms previous, more tentative, identifications of fragments of archaeological parenchyma from relatively recent archaeological contexts at Kuk Swamp, highlands of Papua New Guinea. Five archaeobotanical fragments are described in detail and with varying levels of confidence to sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) and sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas). The study demonstrates the potential of non-destructive microCT for the identification of archaeological parenchyma.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank for their assistance the following individuals: Professor Jack Golson for permission to undertake research on the archaeobotanical samples from Kuk Swamp; Dr. Rachel Wood (RSES, ANU) for assistance with AMS dating of two cane grass fragments; Professor Tim Senden, Director of the Department of Applied Mathematics (ANU) for supporting access to microCT facilities; Brendan Lepschi and Dave Albrecht from the Australian National Herbarium for the provision of herbarium reference material. We also acknowledge Rosemary White and Vivian Rolland, CSIRO Agriculture microscopy unit, for their expert advice. We thank Shane Paxton and John Vickers at the Research School of Earth Science, ANU, for reference sample preparation. Thanks also to Aleese Barron and Erica Seccombe for their instruction in Drishti image analysis.

Funding

The research was funded by an Australian Research Council (FT150100420) grant to TD.

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Correspondence to Tim Denham.

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Pritchard, J., Lewis, T., Beeching, L. et al. An assessment of microCT technology for the investigation of charred archaeological parenchyma from house sites at Kuk Swamp, Papua New Guinea. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 11, 1927–1938 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-018-0648-0

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