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Environmental Sample |
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Plant and animal remains, such as fish bones, seeds, snails and even beetles, are organic materials. They can survive in the ground for hundreds of years given the right conditions. Archaeologists collect these environmental remains from archaeological sites to find out about the past environment and activities such as farming.
Seeds, pollen, insects and wood all survive well in waterlogged soil, whilst shell and bone survive well in chalky soil. If seeds get accidentally burned, for example in an oven, they will survive for hundreds of years. It is difficult to spot these tiny remains in the soil so archaeologists take soil samples from archaeological sites. The soil particles are then washed in a special tank so that they can be separated from any seeds, pollen and insect remains. The environmental remains are kept in glass tubes and are taken to the laboratory to be identified and analysed.
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