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| Acknowledgments | |
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| Introduction: With a Short History of Phytolith Research | |
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| The Production, Deposition, and Dissolution of Phytoliths | |
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| The Development of Phytoliths in Plants | |
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| Summary: How Plants Make Phytoliths | |
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| Why Plants Make Phytoliths | |
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| Chemical and Physical Characteristics of Phytoliths | |
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| The Occurrence of Phytoliths in the Plant Kingdom | |
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| Mechanisms of Phytolith Deposition into Soils and Sediments | |
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| Phytolith Preservation in Various Depositional Contexts | |
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| Phytolith Morphology | |
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| Some Fundamental Aspects of Phytolith Morphology | |
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| The Major Classes of Phytoliths: Introduction | |
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| Phytoliths in the Poaceae | |
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| Phytolith Morphology in Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms, and Angiosperms | |
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| Eudicots | |
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| Phytoliths in Fruits and Seeds | |
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| Phytoliths in Wood | |
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| Less Useful Types of Phytoliths | |
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| Summary of Phytolith Taxonomic and Ecological Significance | |
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| Phytoliths in Domesticated Plants and Their Wild Ancestors | |
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| Maize (Zea mays) and Teosinte (Zea mays subsp. parviglumis) | |
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| Squashes and Gourds of Cucurbita and Other Domesticated Cucurbitaceae | |
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| Maranta arundinacea and Calathea allouia (Arrowroot and Liren) | |
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| Oryza sativa (Rice) | |
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| Musa spp. (Bananas and Plantains) and Ensete (Enset, Abyssinian or Ethiopian Banana) | |
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| Wheat (Triticum monococcum, T. dicoccum, and T. aestivum) and Barley (Hordeum vulgare) | |
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| Summary of Phytolith Analysis in Crop Plant Identification and Prospects for Future Research | |
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| Field Techniques and Research Design | |
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| Sampling Archaeological Sites | |
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| Sampling Lakes, Swamps, and Other Sites for Paleoecological Studies | |
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| Modern Controls on Sampling | |
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| Modern Vegetation and Soil Studies | |
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| Laboratory Techniques | |
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| The Phytolith Laboratory | |
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| Techniques for Extracting Phytoliths from Soils | |
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| Methods of Phytolith Isolation for Carbon-14 and Stable Isotope Study | |
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| Separating Phytoliths, Pollen, Diatoms, and Microscopic Charcoal Simultaneously and Recovering Starch Granules | |
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| Extraction of Phytoliths from Modern Plants | |
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| Preparation of Archaeological Ash Samples (Spodograms) | |
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| Extraction of Starch Grains from Modern Plants | |
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| The Isolation of Phytoliths and Starch Grains from Artifacts and Dental Remains | |
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| Other Techniques of Phytolith Study | |
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| Phytolith Staining | |
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| Microscope Techniques | |
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| Documentation of Phytoliths and Long-Term Curation of Photographs and Images | |
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| The Interpretation of Phytolith Assemblages: Method and Theory | |
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| The Formation and Interpretation of Archaeological and Paleoecological Phytolith Assemblages | |
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| Data Handling and Presentation | |
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| New Approaches in Phytolith Analysis | |
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| The Analysis and Interpretation of Particulate Charcoal and Charred Phytoliths Occurring in Phytolith Preparations | |
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| The Role of Phytoliths in Archaeological Reconstruction | |
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| Studying Prehistoric Plant Subsistence, Agriculture, and Agricultural Technology with Phytoliths | |
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| Phytoliths, Dental Remains, and Diet | |
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| Phytoliths, Stone Tool Function, and Diet | |
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| Phytoliths in Pottery | |
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| The Role of Phytoliths in Paleoecology | |
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| Phytoliths and Paleolimnology | |
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| Peat Bogs | |
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| Terrestrial Soils and Sediments | |
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| Phytoliths in Deep (Pre-Quaternary) Time | |
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| Phytoliths in Deep-Sea Cores | |
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| The Future Potential of Phytolith Analysis | |
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| Phytolith Photographs and Illustrations with Their Explanations | |
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| References | |
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| Index | |
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| About the Author | |