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. 

 

All the best,

Jade

 

 

Doreen Bowdery, PhD, Visiting Fellow

School of Archaeology and Anthropology

College of Arts and Social Sciences

Building 14, Room LG41,

A D Hope Building, Ellery Crescent

The Australian National University,

Canberra  ACT  2601  Australia

Ph: (02) 6125 0585