Latest News: 'Selfies with Sites' Event in Piha for NZ Archaeology Week 3-11 May 2025 click here for more details!
Latest News: 'Selfies with Sites' Event in Piha for NZ Archaeology Week 3-11 May 2025 click here for more details!
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Piha Archaeobotanical Services offer analysis of both microbotanical and macrobotanical material for archaeologists- in particular:
Starch granules
Wood charcoal
Full species identification and quantification, and/or
Selection of short-lived species appropriate for C14 dating.
Charred remains of fruits, roots, tubers and corms (vegetative storage parenchyma)
Also: General Archaeological consulting services i.e.
Assessments of Archaeological Effects
Applications for Archaeological Authorities from Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (HNZPT)
Research projects and archaeological investigations
Why incorporate archaeobotanical analysis into your research?
Why incorporate archaeobotanical analysis into your research?
The identification of wood charcoal for the purpose of the selection of material for C14 Radiocarbon Dating has been standard practice in New Zealand archaeological research for the last 30-40 years. The information gained from more detailed analysis of charcoal samples, in terms of environmental history, resource use, diet and subsistence practices, and the interpretation of site and feature functionality, has also been increasingly recognised. The collection of soil samples from archaeological deposits for the analysis of microbotanical samples, while not yet standard practice, can enrich the interpretation of sites by providing additional and complementary datasets. Archaeobotanical methods such as flotation should be incorporated into excavation strategies, or at the very least into post-excavation analysis, in order to capture this vital information.
For more details on services offered by Piha Archaeobotanical Services see below.
Microbotanical analysis of soil samples
Microbotanical analysis of soil samples
We extract and analyse starch granules from soil samples collected from archaeological deposits.
Click here for more details.
Macrobotanical analysis of wood charcoal as well as parenchyma (charred roots, tubers, fruits and corms).
Macrobotanical analysis of wood charcoal as well as parenchyma (charred roots, tubers, fruits and corms).
We can either extract and analyse macrobotanical remains from bulk samples using flotation and wet-sieving, or analyse already separated charcoal samples.
Click here for more details.
Who are we?
Piha Archaeobotanical Services is led by Ella Ussher (PhD, Australian National University).
Ella has over 18 years experience working as both a Field Archaeologist and Archaeobotanist in NZ and overseas (Fiji, American Samoa, Tonga, Marquesas, Palau, Iceland, United Kingdom and Australia). We have extensive reference collections for the Pacific region and New Zealand, which is continually being added to and improved.
Ella carrying out bucket flotation on samples from Tongatapu, Tonga.
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