Ecofacts are commonly divided into plant remains (archaeobotanical remains), nonhuman animal remains (zooarchaeological or faunal remains), and landscape remains (geoarchaeological remains). Archaeological plant remains include microbotanical remains (small plant parts such as pollen and spores which are the regenerative cells of the plants, phyto-liths and cell fragments including the cells themselves and the silica deposits that fill and take the shape of plant cells, and several types of small plants including algae, molds, etc.), and macrobotanical remains (whole plants or plant parts such as wood, seeds, nuts, fruit pits, etc.). The most commonly recognized zooarchaeological remains are the hard parts of both vertebrates and invertebrates, including bone, teeth, antler/horn, and shell. Zooarchaeologists also study less-recognized remains including eggshell, insect and crustacean exoskeletons, and microscopic remains including those of ostracods (microscopic calcareous-shelled crustaceans), foraminifera (marine protist tests), and parasites (eggs and cysts found in feces). Geoarchaeology is defined as archaeological research using the methods and concepts of the earth sciences. Geoarchaeological ecofacts are therefore the most diverse and include those abiotic elements that can be used to identify the environmental context of a site (global conditions including climate and tectonics, landforms including hydrology and topography, and lithology including mineral, rocks, and other resources), and its matrix (sediments and soils and their processes of formation, transformation, and transportation). A final category of ecofactual data overlaps all three of these main data sets and includes residues, biomolecules, and chemical signatures found in any of the plant, animal, or geologic material studied as ecofacts.
World History
