Paleoethnobotany

Deborah M. Pearsall , Professor Emerita, University of Missouri, USA Department of Anthropology. Recently retired from MU after 35 years, Debby Pearsall holds a BA from the University of Michigan and MA and PhD from the University of Illinois, all degrees in anthropology. Her interests within this discipline center on South American archaeology and paleoethnobotany--the study of people-plant interrelationships through the archaeological record. She has conducted paleoethnobotanical research in numerous locations in the Americas. Her research has two broad themes: the origins and spread of agriculture in the lowland Neotropics, and methods and approaches in paleoethnobotany. She is the author of three books, Paleoethnobotany. A Handbook of Procedures ; Plants and People in Ancient Ecuador: The Ethnobotany of the Jama River Valley; and Piperno and Pearsall , The Origins of Agriculture in the Lowland Neotropics , and was the general editor of Academic Press's 2008 Encyclopedia of Archaeology . She has published in numerous professional journals and edited books.

• List of Illustrations, Preface to the Third Edition, Preface to the Second Edition, Preface to the First Edition, Chapter 1. The Paleoethnobotanical Approach, Chapter 2. Deposition, Preservation, and Recovery of Macroremains, Chapter 3. Identification and Interpretation of Macroremains, Chapter 4. Pollen Analysis, Chapter 5. Phytolith Analysis, Chapter 6. Starch Analysis, Chapter 7. Integrating Biological Data, References, Index, About the Author