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Diagnostic Opal Phytoliths from Pods of Selected Varieties of Common Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Steven R. Bozarth*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045

Abstract

Numerous distinctly hooked silicified hairs are produced in pods of common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris). Similar phytoliths were found in six dicot species native to the central Great Plains in an extensive reference collection of both cultivated and wild plants. Statistical analysis demonstrates that many of the hooked hairs produced in common beans are significantly wider near the tip than those produced in the other species. Bean phytoliths were identified at a late prehistoric village in central Kansas based on this distinguishing characteristic.

Résumé

Résumé

Gran número de distintos filamentos curvados silicificados son producidos en la vainas de frijol comun (Phaseolus vulgaris). En una extensa colección de referenda tanto de plantas cultivadas como silvestres, fueron encontrados fitolitos similares en seis especies de dicotiledoneas provenientes de los Grandes LLanos centrales. Análisis estadísticos demuestran que muchos de los filamentos curvados producidos en frijol comunes se localizan ampliamente cerca del extremo de la vaina, más que en otros especies. Basado en esta característica distinguible, fueron identificados fitolitos defrijol en una comunidad prehistórica en u estado de Kansas central (E.E.U.U.)

Type
Reports
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1990

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References

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