Archaeobotany in prehistoric graves – concepts and methods

Abstract

Plants played an important role both in the everyday life of prehistoric societies and as grave deposits in the burial of their dead. This article focuses on the latter aspect, which is a neglected field of research in Sweden, and discusses the possibilities of finding and iden-tifying fossil plant remains in graves. These remains may have survived in various forms: as macro-remains (diaspores) that can be observed by the naked eye, or as micro-remains (phytoliths, cell structures and pollen) visible under a light microscope or scanning elec-tron microscope. The fossil plants can also form a part or the main content of prepared food, charred bread loaves, or food encrustations on pottery, for example. These concre-tions can be analysed chemically to trace the vegetal content of the food involved. The analytical methods used at the Archaeological Research Laboratory are also discussed here. Our main goal is to try to interpret the function of the plants in the grave as ritual, symbolic and /or utilitarian. Since the plant remains deposited in the graves were probably chosen for a certain purpose, comparisons with remains found in settlements will also be important for deducing their function.