Dear all,
in Switzerland we have very regularly sambucus in e.g. roman sites and
layers (waterlogged and not!) - as andy says they seem to bee among the
toughest.... and also we are always thinking about if they are may be
recent contamination or not - but at least some cannot be, definitively.
regards
Stefanie Jacomet
>Dana and list,
>
>My main experience with Sambucus seeds was in the investigation of plant
>macrofossil assemblages (waterlogged) from Holocene and late-glacial
>alluvial sediments in southeast England (Thames and Medway valleys).
>Sambucus seeds were one of the most ubiquitous macrofossil remains to be
>found, surviving even in sands and gravels that were otherwise sterile. It
>has been my suspicion for years that they are among the toughest and most
>persistent seeds in existence. This meant that they had a great potential
>for being re-worked and I tended to play down their interpretative
>importance, unless the assemblages were thought to be mostly autochthonous
>(i.e. backswamp deposits). Unfortunately I have no sites where I can
>compare charred and uncharred preservation.
>
>Best Wishes
>
>Andy Fairbairn
>--------------------
>
>Dr Andrew S Fairbairn
>School of Archaeology and Anthropology,
>A D Hope Building
>Australian National University
>Canberra
>ACT 0200
>Australia
>
>Tel: (02) 6259 0176
Prof. Dr. Stefanie Jacomet
Seminar für Ur- und Frühgeschichte
Abteilung Archäobiologie/Archäobotanik-Labor
c/o Botanisches Institut
Schönbeinstr. 6
CH-4056 Basel
Tel.: +41 61 267 35 15/07
Fax.: + 41 61 267 29 86
email: [log in to unmask]
homepage: http://www.unibas.ch/arch/
Tel priv. 079 322 39 17 handy / 061 971 26 12
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