Exaggerated expectations in ancient starch research and the need for new taphonomic and authenticity criteria
Julio Mercader,
Tolutope Akeju,
Melisa Brown,
Mariam Bundala,
Matthew J. Collins,
Les Copeland,
Alison Crowther,
Peter Dunfield,
Amanda Henry,
Jamie Inwood,
Makarius Itambu,
Joong-Jae Kim,
Steve Larter,
Laura Longo,
Thomas Oldenburg,
Robert Patalano,
Ramaswami Sammynaiken,
María Soto,
Robert Tyler,
Hermine Xhauflair
Affiliations
Julio Mercader
Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada.
Tolutope Akeju
Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada.
Melisa Brown
Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada.
Mariam Bundala
Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada. Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, University of Dar es Salaam, P.O. Box 35051, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Matthew J. Collins
Statens Naturhistoriske Museum, Københavns Universitet, 1350 København K, Denmark.
Les Copeland
The University of Sydney, Sydney Institute of Agriculture, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, NSW 2006, Australia.
Alison Crowther
School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia. Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, 07745, Germany.
Peter Dunfield
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada.
Amanda Henry
Department of Archaeological Sciences, Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333CC Leiden, the Netherlands.
Jamie Inwood
Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada.
Makarius Itambu
Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada. Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, University of Dar es Salaam, P.O. Box 35051, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Joong-Jae Kim
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada.
Steve Larter
Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada.
Laura Longo
School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Republic of Singapore.
Thomas Oldenburg
Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada.
Robert Patalano
Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada.
Ramaswami Sammynaiken
Saskatchewan Structural Sciences Centre, University of Saskatchewan, 110 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5C9, Canada.
María Soto
Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada.
Robert Tyler
College of Agriculture and Bioresources, University of Saskatchewan, 51 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A8, Canada.
Hermine Xhauflair
Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DZ, England.
Ancient starch research illuminates aspects of human ecology and economic botany that drove human evolution and cultural complexity over time, with a special emphasis on past technology, diet, health, and adaptation to changing environments and socio-economic systems. However, lapses in prevailing starch research demonstrate the exaggerated expectations for the field that have been generated over the last few decades. This includes an absence of explanation for the millennial-scale survivability of a biochemically degradable polymer, and difficulties in establishing authenticity and taxonomic identification. This paper outlines new taphonomic and authenticity criteria to guide future work toward designing research programs that fully exploit the potential of ancient starch while considering growing demands from readers, editors, and reviewers that look for objective compositional identification of putatively ancient starch granules.
