Progress of Archaeobotanical Research at the Deccan College (2000-2020)

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Progress of Archaeobotanical Research at the Deccan College, presents the study of preserved plant evidence from archaeological sites and the reconstruction and interpretation of past human-plant relationships. It describes the approaches and techniques of Archaeobotany/Palacoethnobotany. Pollen Analysis (Archacopalynology), Phytolithology, Palacoccology. Palacoenvironmental studies, Coprology, Ethnobotany and Ethnoagriculture and Plant Taxonomy for the students or professionals interested in the field.

It offers archacologists a handbook of field sampling and flotation techniques as well as an introduction to methods of analysis and interpretation in archaeobotany. This is a comprehensive work for research scholars interested in reconstructing man-plant relationships from the archaeological and ethnological records.

Dr. Satish S. Naik is In-Charge, Palacobotany Laboratory, Dept. of AIHC and Archaeology, Deccan College (Deemed to be a University), Pune. His palacobotanical research in Archaeobotany, Palynology, Phytolithology contributed to the plant-based subsistence strategies of Pre- and Proto-historic cultures. Dr. Naik published 4 chapters in 4 different edited books and more than 31 research papers in reputed Indian and foreign periodicals. He was awarded several certificates of merit for his research.

Deccan College Post-Graduate & Research Institute (Deemed to be University) celebrated its bicentenary on the 6th October 2021. The Publications Committee of the Bicentenary Celebrations had taken a decision to publish about 20 monographs to mark the completion of two hundred years of its existence. Experts were invited from the disciplines of the three departments of the Institute- Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, Linguistics and Sanskrit Lexicography as well as from Library Science. The quality and range of the areas covered in these publications is reassuring about the continuing research in these areas at the Institute known for its rich and invaluable contributions. The manuscripts from external experts show the trust and faith they have reposed in the intellectual commitment of the university. We are able to put in your hands 14 of the proposed 20 volumes, chosen on grounds of critical peer reviews. I can say in full faith that these monographs reflect the signs of progress and growth of the Institute, and that they convey not only the content, but also the abiding interest of the Institute in the unmixed pursuit of knowledge.

Archaeobotany deals with the study of plant remains recovered from archaeological context. This discipline plays an important role. in interpretation of past foodways, plant economies, past agriculture and palacoenvironmental conditions prevailing during the period of occupation. Archaeobotanical remains provide evidence for evolution of domesticated plants, help in finding the history of crop plants and the weedy taxa associated with them. The historical background and spread of agriculture in various countries can be traced back on the basis of change in food habits of the people either by preference given to crop cultivation or environmental change. It also throws light on past human activities through which plant remains come into the occupational deposits. This discipline is also called as palaeoethnoboatny, since it adds evidence for relationship between past cultures and plant kingdom (Miksicek 1987, Fuller and Lucas 2014). The long-term process of plant evolution is possible through the study of geological plant fossils; the discipline is called palaeobotany (Stewart and Rothwell 1993). Archaeobotany, in addition to being a shorter word, has an advantage of emphasizing. the archaeological nature of the plant data, which should call attention to the exigencies of deposition, preservation and recovery.

Archaeobotanical research can be divided on the basis of preservation of different types of plant remains in archaeological context. It comprises evidence of carbonised and silicified grains/ seeds, fruits, wood charcoal, charred parenchyma fragments, traces of glumes, fibres, plant impressions/compressions on mud clots and pottery, coprolites, pollen and phytoliths. Additional kinds of evidence include diatoms, microforaminifera and residue analysis.