Phytoliths in European Archaeological Research

Phytoliths are now used in archaeological research around the world. Europe was somewhat slow to take this up, but now phytoliths feature in many archaeological investigations. We will first assess paleoenvironmental studies and particularly those concerned with the development of agriculture. Then we will focus on ethnoarchaeological studies, an important area where phytoliths are now increasingly being used, with the aim of providing a framework for interpreting archaeological phytolith assemblages. We will then move on to consider open-air sites and cave sites, both sites of past human occupation. Finally, we will consider residue studies, assessing recent work on phytoliths on the surface of pottery, in tooth calculus, and associated with lithics.Peer reviewe