ABSTRACT
The archaeological plant remains were, as they usually are, preserved mostly in carbonized form. The seeds, fruits, and wood pieces have been reduced to carbon while retaining, more or less, their characteristic shape. In order to ascertain the changes in shape, size, proportions, and anatomy caused by carbonization, artificial carbonization of extant grains and seeds of Triticum species was carried out by baking the extant materials in an electric oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 12 hours. The results indicate that in all the species of Triticum, the length of the grains decreases with carbonization whereas the breadth increases. In all the species of Triticum, Avena, and Hordeum, the morphological features are well preserved on carbonization. The examination of woods under binocular microscope revealed that the anatomical features are well preserved in both Pinus and Robinia. Hopf has pointed out that the prehistoric cereal grains are smaller in size than their exact present-day counterparts even when these are artificially carbonized.
