Identification of starch granules on ground stone tools exposed to fire

Intense wildfires destroy everything in their path, including
archaeological sites. Prehistorically, archaeological sites were regularly
and intentionally burned. In what ways does burning affect those sites?
With increased wildfire activity, research has begun to describe the
effects of fire on archaeological materials through post-fire and
experimental treatment, yet, little is known about the effects of fire on
microbotanical remains, such as starch granules. Although some studies
address the impact of fire on starch-rich foods, there is virtually no
research on the fire effects of starch granules embedded in ground stone
tools. The current study examines changes in the morphology of starch
granules embedded in ground stone tools before and after exposure to flame
combustion. A measurable amount of intact and identifiable starch granules
was recovered from all of the treated samples. However, significantly
fewer intact, identifiable granules were found as tools were exposed to
higher temperatures for longer periods of time.

肆虐的野火会焚毁其蔓延路径上的一切事物，其中亦包含考古遗址。史前时期，考古遗址曾被规律性地、有目的地进行焚烧。那么焚烧究竟会以何种方式对这些遗址造成影响？随着野火活动愈发频繁，学界已通过火后调查与实验处理，开始阐释火对考古遗存的影响，但目前学界对火作用于微植物遗存（microbotanical remains）的影响知之甚少，诸如淀粉粒（starch granules）这类微植物遗存的相关研究尤为匮乏。尽管已有部分研究探讨了火对富含淀粉的食物的影响，但针对嵌藏在磨制石器（ground stone tools）中的淀粉粒受火影响的相关研究几乎仍为空白。本研究针对经火焰灼烧（flame combustion）前后的磨制石器中嵌藏淀粉粒的形态变化展开了分析。所有经实验处理的样本中，均成功回收了可被有效检测的完整且可辨识的淀粉粒。不过，当石器暴露于更高温度且灼烧时长更长时，所获取的完整可辨识淀粉粒数量会显著减少。