For illustrations of the surface of a rice husk showing multiple lines - see
Yen DE 1982 Ban Chiang pottery and rice: A discussion of the inclusions in the pottery matrix
Expedition
(U of Pennsylvania) 24(4) 51-64 fig 5 - husk, articulated phytoliths (not impressions)
Doreen Bowdery,
From: The archaeobotany mailing list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Jade D'Alpoim Guedes
Sent: Thursday, 9 February 2017 7:24 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: help with this seed
Hi All,
Looking at this, my initial guess would be flax because of the characteristics that Jerome and Mark point out. It looks a little too papery and thin to be rice, but looks more similar to the flax I have seen. Rice grains tend to retain
their shape quite well when charred or they puff out a little, but I have not yet seen rice with a hollow interior when it is charred in the sites I've looked at in China.
I couldn't tell from the photograph but rice generally also has impressions on the surface from the husk that normally form three lines down the middle. I couldn't see that on the photograph but can't tell if there is something covering
the surface or not.
I'm attaching a picture of a few different rice caryoposes from different sites in SW China here, so you can get an idea of size and variability.
On Wed, Feb 8, 2017 at 11:57 AM, Jérôme Ros <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Dear Leonor and Guillem,
I was wondering the same thing as Mark. I got quite a lot of flax seeds at Albalat (Romangordo, Estrémadura), and they are quite often preserved this way, with empty interiors. But from time to time, ornementations can be observed (it looks
like narrow vertical lines to me). Do you see such ornementations on your seed ?
But if it's rice, it's fantastic ! (we're still looking for them in southern France, first mentions in texts from Perpignan date back to the 13th century).
2017-02-08 20:14 GMT+01:00 Mark Nesbitt <[log in to unmask]>:
Could it be a charred flax seed (not as exciting as Oryza!)? I'm going by the shape in lateral view, with the beak-like protrusion, and the empty interior, typical of the swelling you get in oil-rich seeds.
mark
________________________________________
From: The archaeobotany mailing list <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of PEÑA CHOCARRO, LEONOR <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 08 February 2017 18:34
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: help with this seed
Dear list members,
Guillem and myself are working on a medieval site where we think we may have found Oryza. Since we are not familiar with it as there is no archaeobotanical evidence in the archaeobotanical record of Spain earlier than this possible one, we would like to check
it with those of you familiar with rice.
Would mind to have a look and let us know what you think?
Many thanks in advance
Leonor and Guillem
Leonor Peña-Chocarro
GI Arqueobiología.
Instituto de Historia
Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales (CSIC)
Albasanz 26-28
28037 Madrid. Spain
--
Jérôme Ros
docteur en archéobotanique
Archéozoologie, archéobotanique : Sociétés, pratiques et environnements (UMR 7209), MNHN-CNRS-SU
CP56, 55 rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France
Tel : 07 77 33 90 59