PLANT MACROFOSSIL REMAINS FROM THE 1984-85 EXCAVATIONS AT FLAG FEN, CAMBS.
Author(s): C Fisher, A R Hall
A pilot survey of the plant macrofossil remains from 59 samples of wood or sandy detritus peat, associated with a Late Bronze Age timber platform at Flag Fen, Cambs., was undertaken to study the environmental setting of the platform and to look for evidence of human activity- in particular for the plants used by the inhabitants. Not surprisingly, the assemblages were dominated by aquatic and waterside taxa with a few weeds of cultivated and waste ground. Most of the weeds were found in samples from within a 'structure', but since some, at least of the seeds were clearly modern contaminants, probably from water used to spray the waterlogged wood or from cultivated soil above the Bronze Age Levels, no very useful conclusions can be drawn from the evidence obtained. It is suggested that future sampling policy take account of the problems of contamination, but it is also emphasised that routine, large-scale analyses of deposits of this kind may yield rather little useful archaeobotanical information.
- Report Number:
- 49/1986
- Series:
- AML Reports (New Series)
- Pages:
- 30
- Keywords:
- Plant Remains
