Phytolith Analysis

Fitolitkutatási adatok a Hódmezővásárhely-Kopáncs II. lelőhely (Csongrád megye) környezeti rekonstrukciójához és archaeobotanikai elemzéséhez – Phytolith research data for the environ mental reconstruction and archaeobotanical analysis of Hódmezővásárhely-Kopáncs II (Csongrád County) archaeological site

by Ákos Pető

Pető, Á. – Herendi, O., 2012. Fitolitkutatási adatok a Hódmezővásárhely-Kopáncs II. lelőhely (Csongrád megye) környezeti rekonstrukciójához és archaeobotanikai elemzéséhez – Phytolith research data for the environmental reconstruction and archaeobotanical analysis of Hódmezővásárhely-Kopáncs II (Csongrád County) archaeological site. In: Kvassay, J. (Szerk. / Ed.) Évkönyv és jelentés a Kulturális Örökségvédelmi Szakszogálat 2009. évi feltárásairól – 2009 Field Service for Cultural Heritage Yearbook and Review of Archaeological Investigations. Budapest, 431–459. (Bilingual paper)

Studying modern soil profiles of different landscape zones in Hungary: An attempt to establish a soil-phytolith identification key

by Ákos Pető

Pető, Á., 2012. Studying modern soil profiles of different landscape zones in Hungary: An attempt to establish a soil-phytolith identification key. Quaternary International. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2012.02.049

A set of plant opal particles – phytolith assemblage – found in soils can provide information on the covering... more A set of plant opal particles – phytolith assemblage – found in soils can provide information on the covering vegetation. The phenomena of redundancy and multiplicity usually makes it difficult to directly link a single phytolith to a given species or even to a higher taxanomic unit. The aim of this paper is to present the results of multivariate statistical analyses applied on the data gained from twenty soil profiles and to recommend on diagnostic morphotypes and/or morphotype groups. Correspondence and principal component analyses have been performed on the data matrix composed of over 6000 phytoliths identified in 117 soil samples from Hungary. Based upon the results, soil types representing different habitats can be charaterized by distinctive indicator groups. On the basis of the research data of 20 soil profiles and as a result of the comparative analysis a suggested reference system is presented, which hopefully enables detection of the habitat and soil type through the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the diagnostic morphotypes in palaeoenvironmental reconstructions.

Palaeovegetational reconstruction of the Hajdúnánás–Tedej–Lyukas-halom based on combined micropalaeobotanical analysis

by Ákos Pető

Pető, Á. – Cummings, L.S., 2011.Palaeovegetational reconstruction of the Hajdúnánás–Tedej–Lyukas-halom based on combined micropalaeobotanical analysis. In: Pető, Á. – Barczi, A. (Eds.) 2011. Kurgan Studies – An environmental and archaeological multiproxy study of burial mounds in the Eurasian steppe zone. British Archaeological Reports International Series 2238. Archaeopress, Oxford, UK., 315-325.

Fitolitelemzés – terepi mintavételi módszerek a régészet szolgálatában

by Ákos Pető

Pető, Á., 2011. Fitolitelemzés – terepi mintavételi módszerek
a régészet szolgálatában. In: Müller, R. (Főszerk.) Régészeti kézikönyv. Magyar Régész Szövetség, Budapest, 467-488.

A magyarországon előforduló meghatározó jelentőségű talajtípusok fitolit profiljának katasztere IV. A vizsgált csernozjom és szikes talajok eredményei – Phytolith profile cadastre of the most significant and abundant soil types of Hungary IV. Results of the examined chernozem and alkaline soil profiles

by Ákos Pető

Pető, Á. - Barczi, A., 2011. A Magyarországon előforduló meghatározó jelentőségű talajtípusok fitolit profiljának katasztere IV. A vizsgált csernozjom és szikes talajok eredményei. Tájökológiai Lapok [Hungarian Journal of Landscape Ecology] 9(1): 147-190. (in Hungarian with English abstract)

A magyarországon előforduló meghatározó jelentőségű talajtípusok fitolit profiljának katasztere III. A vizsgált barna erdőtalajok eredményei – Phytolith profile cadastre of the most significant and abundant soil types of Hungary III. Results of the examined brown forest soil profiles

by Ákos Pető

Pető, Á. - Barczi, A., 2010. A Magyarországon előforduló meghatározó jelentőségű talajtípusok fitolit profiljának katasztere III. A vizsgált barna erdőtalajok eredményei. Tájökológiai Lapok [Hungarian Journal of Landscape Ecology] 8(3): 457-495. (in Hungarian with English abstract)

A magyarországon előforduló meghatározó jelentőségű talajtípusok fitolit profiljának katasztere I-II. Módszertani megfontolások, illetve a vizsgált váz- és kőzethatású talajok eredményei – Phytolith profile cadastre of the most significant and abundant soil types of Hungary I-II. Methodological aspects and results of the examined mountain,rocky soils, sandy soils and rankers

by Ákos Pető

Pető, Á. - Barczi, A., 2010. A magyarországon előforduló meghatározó jelentőségű talajtípusok fitolit profiljának katasztere I-II. Módszertani megfontolások, illetve a vizsgált váz- és kőzethatású talajok eredményei. Tájökológiai Lapok [Hungarian Journal of Landscape Ecology] 8(1): 157-206. (in Hungarian with English abstract)

A növényi opálszemcsék kutatásának rövid tudománytörténeti áttekintése – A short historical overview of plant opal studies: from discovery to modern applications

by Ákos Pető

Pető, Á., 2009. A növényi opálszemcsék kutatásának rövid tudománytörténeti áttekintése. Tájökológiai Lapok [Hungarian Journal of Landscape Ecology] 8(1): 39-63. (in Hungarian with English abstract)

Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of Hungarian kurgans on the basis of the examination of palaeosoils and phytolith analysis

by Ákos Pető

Barczi, A. - Golyeva, A.A. - Pető, Á., 2009. Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of Hungarian kurgans on the basis of the examination of palaeosoils and phytolith analysis. Quaternary International 193: 49-60.

A fitolitkutatás szerepe az őskörnyezettanban és a környezetrégészetben, valamint hazai alkalmazásának lehetőségei – The role and possible application of phytolith analysis in Hungarian palaeoecological and environmental archaeological research

by Ákos Pető

Pető, Á., 2009. A fitolitkutatás szerepe az őskörnyezettanban és a környezetrégészetben, valamint hazai alkalmazásának lehetőségei. Archeometriai Műhely [Archaeometry Workshop] 2009(2): 15-30. (in Hungarian with English abstract)

Hazai talajszelvények fitolit morfotípus-diverzitása – Morphotype diversity of phytoliths in Hungarian soil profiles

by Ákos Pető

Pető, Á., 2011. Hazai talajszelvények fitolit morfotípus-diverzitása. Agrokémia és Talajtan [Agrochemistry and Soil Science] 60(1): 45-60. (in Hungarian with English summary) http://dx.doi.org/10.1556/Agrokem.60.2011.1.5

One way of utilizing soils in research on environment history is to detect and understand the plant opal assemblages... more One way of utilizing soils in research on environment history is to detect and understand the plant opal assemblages in soil profiles. Plant opal particles, also known as phytoliths, accumulate in the topsoil and represent an inorganic inprint of the surface vegetation. A phytolith assemblage is primarily characterized by the plant association that produces it, but secondary processes such as soil formation and human impacts may also influence the vertical distribution and appearance of phytoliths within a soil profile. The qualitative analysis of plant opal particles allows us to reconstruct former environments, whilst quantitative observations can be used to understand the influence of the monotonous or periodically changing vegetation that inhabits the surface.
This paper presents an analysis of a soil phytolith database consisting of 117 samples taken from 20 profiles. The aim was to demonstrate how diversity indices, which are primarily designed to characterize biomes, can be applied to soil phytolith studies in order to describe the phytolith-producing potential of soil representing various habitats and plant associations.
The morphotype diversity indices used in the study are able to shed light on the complexity of soil development. Based on the calculation of morphotype diversity indices, three major soil types were distinguished. In the case of Type I, both the phytolith
content and the morphotype diversity increased as a consequence of natural and artificial effects, resulting in a phytolith surplus compared to natural processes. In Type II,
due to the geomorphological position of the soil profile and fluvial processes (surface instability in general), a decrease in the phytolith content and the morphotype diversity can be detected, which leads to phytolith and organic matter deficits. Intact profiles, where the phytolith composition depends only on the vegetation, were classified as Type III; the morphotype diversity and vertical distribution of the phytoliths at this type are mainly
affected by internal processes.

Phytolith analysis of modern soil profiles as a tool to demonstrate land use changes and anthropogenic impacts (Case study from the Bakony Mountains)

by Ákos Pető

Pető, Á. - Barczi, A. - Joó, K. - Grónás, V., 2008. Phytolith analysis of modern soil profiles as a tool to demonstrate land use changes and anthropogenic impacts (Case study from the Bakony Mountains). Cereal Research Communications 36: 955-958.

Archaeology at the micro-scale: micromorphology and phytoliths at a Swahili stonetown

by Federica Sulas

Co-authored with M. Madella. Published in 'Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences' 2012.

Geoarchaeological and archaeobotanical techniques are increasingly applied to the study of urban and domestic space.... more Geoarchaeological and archaeobotanical techniques are increasingly applied to the study of urban and domestic space. However, they are seldom performed as part of an integrative approach, where the soil and botanical micro-records are used together. This paper presents the preliminary results of ongoing research at Songo Mnara in Tanzania that combines customised intra-site soil macro- and micromorphological analyses, chemical analysis and the study of phytoliths. The research is part of a multidisciplinary project on the use of urban space in Swahili stonetowns. By eliciting multiple datasets from Songo Mnara, this paper illustrates the potential of integrating geoarchaeology and archaeobotany to investigate the use of space in urban contexts. The approach is a novelty within the context of Swahili archaeology and an emerging one in Africa.

Materializing tradition: ceramic production in Early Neolithic Hungary

by Attila Kreiter

Kreiter, A. – Pető, Á. – Pánczél, P. 2012 (in press) Materializing tradition: ceramic production in Early Neolithic Hungary. In Bánffy, E. (ed.) The Early Neolithic of the Duna-Tisza Interfluve, southern Hungary. BAR

Toward a classification scheme of sedge (Cyperaceae) phytoliths.

by Amy Ollendorf

Phytolith analysis as a means of plant identification: Arundo donax and Phragmites communis

by Amy Ollendorf

Variation in phytoliths from corn leaves

by Amy Ollendorf

Archaeological Implications of a Phytolith Study at Tel Miqne (Ekron), Israel

by Amy Ollendorf

Variation in phytolith assemblages within a population of corn (cv. Mandan Yellow Flour)

by Amy Ollendorf

A Study of Phytoliths from Philistine Levels at Tel Miqne (Ekron), Israel

by Amy Ollendorf