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"Ancient Plants and People is a timely discussion of the global perspectives on archaeobotany and the rich harvest of knowledge it yields. Contributors examine the importance of plants to human culture over time and geographic regions and what it teaches of humans, their culture, and their landscapes"--Provided by publisher

Hunter-gatherer societies have distinct social perceptions and practices which are expressed in unique use of space and material deposition patterns. However, the identification of archaeological evidence associated with hunter-gatherer activity is often challenging, especially in tropical environments such as rainforests. We present an integrated study combining ethnoarchaeology and geoarchaeology in order to study archaeological site formation processes related to hunter-gatherers' ways of living in tropical forests. Ethnographic data was collected from an habitation site of contemporary hunter-gatherers in the forests of South India, aimed at studying how everyday activities and way of living dictate patterns of material deposition. Ethnoarchaeological excavations of abandoned open-air sites and a rock-shelter of the same group located deep in the forests, involved field observations and sampling of sediments from the abandoned sites and the contemporary site. Laboratory analyses included geochemical analysis (i.e., FTIR, ICP-AES), phytolith concentration analysis and soil micromorphology. The results present a dynamic spatial deposition pattern of macroscopic, microscopic and chemical materials, which stem from the distinctive ways of living and use of space by hunter-gatherers. This study shows that post-depositional processes in tropical forests result in poor preservation of archaeological materials due to acidic conditions and intensive biological activity within the sediments. Yet, the multiple laboratory-based analyses were able to trace evidence for activity surfaces and their maintenance practices as well as localized concentrations of activity remains such as the use of plants, metals, hearths and construction materials. ; The research leading to these results has received funding form the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions—http://ec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/) of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under REA agreement n° 623293 granted to DF at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. ; This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from PLOS via https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0164185

Rainfed cultivation in drylands, especially arid and hyper-arid lands, is often considered to play a minor role in human livelihood. Understanding the long-term development of this practice will augment knowledge of past land use strategies to inform models of land cover and climate change. Drawing upon the results of an ethnoarchaeological study, this paper presents a review of non-irrigated agricultural practices in the absence of anthropogenic water-harvesting structures, in arid and hyper-arid lands of North Africa. A proposal on how to identify the presence and extent of these practices in the past in world's drylands at large is ultimately presented. ; DU was funded by the Italian Ministry for Foreign affairs (MAE-DGSP VI). RAINDROPS has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (ERC-Stg-2017) under grant agreement No 759800. Additional funding for fieldwork of AZ is from the University of Milano. This work is also part of the PAGES LandCover6k effort and the INQUA International Focus Group HoLa (Holocene Global Landuse). CL, SB and MM are members of CaSEs, an "Excellence Research Group" of the Catalan Agency for Research (AGAUR SGR-1417 and SGR-0212).

Hunter-gatherer societies have distinct social perceptions and practices which are expressed in unique use of space and material deposition patterns. However, the identification of archaeological evidence associated with hunter-gatherer activity is often challenging, especially in tropical environments such as rainforests. We present an integrated study combining ethnoarchaeology and geoarchaeology in order to study archaeological site formation processes related to hunter-gatherers' ways of living in tropical forests. Ethnographic data was collected from an habitation site of contemporary hunter-gatherers in the forests of South India, aimed at studying how everyday activities and way of living dictate patterns of material deposition. Ethnoarchaeological excavations of abandoned open-air sites and a rock-shelter of the same group located deep in the forests, involved field observations and sampling of sediments from the abandoned sites and the contemporary site. Laboratory analyses included geochemical analysis (i.e., FTIR, ICP-AES), phytolith concentration analysis and soil micromorphology. The results present a dynamic spatial deposition pattern of macroscopic, microscopic and chemical materials, which stem from the distinctive ways of living and use of space by hunter-gatherers. This study shows that postdepositional processes in tropical forests result in poor preservation of archaeological materials due to acidic conditions and intensive biological activity within the sediments. Yet, the multiple laboratory-based analyses were able to trace evidence for activity surfaces and their maintenance practices as well as localized concentrations of activity remains such as the use of plants, metals, hearths and construction materials. ; The research leading to these results has received funding form the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions—http://ec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/) of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under REA agreement n° 623293 granted to DF at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. ; Peer Reviewed

This paper presents an innovative multisensor, multitemporal machine-learning approach using remote sensing big data for the detection of archaeological mounds in Cholistan (Pakistan). The Cholistan Desert presents one of the largest concentrations of Indus Civilization sites (from ca. 3300 to 1500 BC). Cholistan has figured prominently in theories about changes in water availability, the rise and decline of the Indus Civilization, and the transformation of fertile monsoonal alluvial plains into an extremely arid margin. This paper implements a multisensor, multitemporal machine-learning approach for the remote detection of archaeological mounds. A classifier algorithm that employs a large-scale collection of synthetic-aperture radar and multispectral images has been implemented in Google Earth Engine, resulting in an accurate probability map for mound-like signatures across an area that covers ca. 36,000 km2. The results show that the area presents many more archaeological mounds than previously recorded, extending south and east into the desert, which has major implications for understanding the archaeological significance of the region. The detection of small (30 ha) suggests that there were continuous shifts in settlement location. These shifts are likely to reflect responses to a dynamic and changing hydrological network and the influence of the progressive northward advance of the desert in a long-term process that culminated in the abandonment of much of the settled area during the Late Harappan period. ; This research arises from a collaboration between the European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant TwoRains project (H.A.O., C.A.P., and A.S.G.) and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship MarginScapes (F.C.C.) and WaMStrIn (A.G.-M.). TwoRains is funded by the ERC under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement 648609) and the Department of Science & Technology/UK-India Education and Research Initiative, the British Academy, and the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. Margin-Scapes and WaMStrIn are funded under the European Commission Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreements 794711 and 746446, respectively. H.A.O. is a Ramón y Cajal Fellow (Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities), and A.S.G. is a member of the Global Challenges Research Fund TIGR2ESS project (BB/P027970/1).

We present the results of the microstratigraphic, phytolith and wood charcoal study of the remains of a 10.5 ka roof. The roof is part of a building excavated at Tell Qarassa (South Syria), assigned to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period (PPNB). The Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) period in the Levant coincides with the emergence of farming. This fundamental change in subsistence strategy implied the shift from mobile to settled aggregated life, and from tents and huts to hard buildings. As settled life spread across the Levant, a generalised transition from round to square buildings occurred, that is a trademark of the PPNB period. The study of these buildings is fundamental for the understanding of the ever-stronger reciprocal socio-ecological relationship humans developed with the local environment since the introduction of sedentism and domestication. Descriptions of buildings in PPN archaeological contexts are usually restricted to the macroscopic observation of wooden elements (posts and beams) and mineral components (daub, plaster and stone elements). Reconstructions of microscopic and organic components are frequently based on ethnographic analogy. The direct study of macroscopic and microscopic, organic and mineral, building components performed at Tell Qarassa provides new insights on building conception, maintenance, use and destruction. These elements reflect new emerging paradigms in the relationship between Neolithic societies and the environment. A square building was possibly covered here with a radial roof, providing a glance into a topologic shift in the conception and understanding of volumes, from round-based to square-based geometries. Macroscopic and microscopic roof components indicate buildings were conceived for year-round residence rather than seasonal mobility. This implied performing maintenance and restoration of partially damaged buildings, as well as their adaptation to seasonal variability. ; Research is sponsored by the former Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN, HAR2011-21545-C02-01 The last hunter-gatherers and the first producing societies in Central and Southern Syria), the Ministry of Culture Spanish Institute of Cultural Heritage (Excavations Abroad) and the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. A. Balbo has worked on this paper on contracts from JAEDoc, SimulPast Consolider and European Social Found. A. Arranz has the financial support of the Basque Government (Pre-doctoral grant Number: BFI.09.249). L. Zapata is a member of Research Group UPV/EHU IT-288-07 (Basque Government), UFI11/09 Cuaternario of the UPV/EHU and Project HAR2011-23716 (I+D+i). She is also funded by the Programa de Movilidad del Personal Investigador del Gobierno Vasco 2012. C. Lancelotti has worked on this paper on a contract from AGRIWESTMED (European Research Council funded). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. ; Peer reviewed

We present the results of the microstratigraphic, phytolith and wood charcoal study of the remains of a 10.5 ka roof. The roof is part of a building excavated at Tell Qarassa (South Syria), assigned to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period (PPNB). The Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) period in the Levant coincides with the emergence of farming. This fundamental change in subsistence strategy implied the shift from mobile to settled aggregated life, and from tents and huts to hard buildings. As settled life spread across the Levant, a generalised transition from round to square buildings occurred, that is a trademark of the PPNB period. The study of these buildings is fundamental for the understanding of the ever-stronger reciprocal socio-ecological relationship humans developed with the local environment since the introduction of sedentism and domestication. Descriptions of buildings in PPN archaeological contexts are usually restricted to the macroscopic observation of wooden elements (posts and beams) and mineral components (daub, plaster and stone elements). Reconstructions of microscopic and organic components are frequently based on ethnographic analogy. The direct study of macroscopic and microscopic, organic and mineral, building components performed at Tell Qarassa provides new insights on building conception, maintenance, use and destruction. These elements reflect new emerging paradigms in the relationship between Neolithic societies and the environment. A square building was possibly covered here with a radial roof, providing a glance into a topologic shift in the conception and understanding of volumes, from round-based to square-based geometries. Macroscopic and microscopic roof components indicate buildings were conceived for year-round residence rather than seasonal mobility. This implied performing maintenance and restoration of partially damaged buildings, as well as their adaptation to seasonal variability. ; MICINN (HAR2011-21545-C02-01) The last hunter-gatherers and the first producing societies in Central and Southern Syria, the Ministry of Culture Spanish Institute of Cultural Heritage (Excavations Abroad), the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, JAEDoc (contracts for A. Balbo), SimulPast Consolider and European Social Found, the Basque Government (Pre-doctoral grant Number: BFI.09.249 for A. Arranz), Basque Government-Research Group UPV/EHU IT-288-07 (L. Zapata), UFI11/09 Cuaternario of the UPV/EHU and Project HAR2011-23716 (I+D+i), Programa de Movilidad del Personal Investigador del Gobierno Vasco 2012, AGRIWESTMED (European Research Council funded) (contract for C. Lancelotti).