ABSTRACT
Ancient starch analysis has made considerable advances since the earliest systematic applications by Don Ugent in the 1980s (Box 1.4). Building on his important scholarly contribution, current studies are also anchored in fundamental taxonomic research in botany (e.g., Reichert 1913; Box 7.1) and pharmacology (e.g., Greenish and Collin 1904; Wallis 1957) and benefit from extensive research on modern starch within the food industry. The rapidly growing number of studies demonstrates that the study of ancient starch has a significant and wide-ranging role to play in archaeology. Starch studies have also made important contributions by complementing and enhancing existing paleobotanical techniques based on macrobotanical materials such as seeds, nuts, and charcoal as well as plant microfossils such as pollen, phytoliths, and diatoms. There is no doubt that in the future starch research will greatly extend our knowledge about past human activities involving the use and manipulation of plants for food, drugs, ritual, shelter, tools, and perhaps much more, as well as contribute to reconstructions of past environments.
