This is a very interesting remarks, which reminds me of the
research of my former colleague (now retired) Janneke Buurman. In several of her
Bronze Age sites in Dutch Western Frisia she found a fixed combination of (few)
waterlogged seeds among a whealth of carbonised remains. In a publication about
Westwoud, she called these "puzzling fresh seeds", which cannot have derived
from the vegetation during excavation, and include Lemna, Eupatorium cannabinum
(only small fragments), Alisma plantago-aquatica (highly worn embryos),
Ranunculus sect. Batrachium, Thalictrum flavum and Menyanthes trifoliata (see p.
146 of the attached article). She does not consider these species to be
authentic for the Bronze Age, but maybe they could be??? Any more ideas
about this???
oTTo
Yes it is Lemna (duckweed).
It occurs in waterlogged deposits but I have often found it in conditions where there is
no waterlogged preservation of plant or other remains, such as in
ditches where there are snail shells of snails indicating standing water in
the past.
It seems to be preserved in some soils, particularly clay
soils as found in Leicestershire.
I asssume it is because the seed contains silicates but I
have never found a reference to be sure.
Angela
Oops. Forgot to attach the image. Sorry
about that.
Radoslaw Grabowski
Environmental Archaeology
Laboratory
Dpt. of Historical, Philosophical and
Religious Studies
Umeå University
SE-901 87, Umeå, Sweden
Tel: +46 761313006
