Kaupang 2000, Environmental Archaeology
4 also resulting in lower yields regarding the total P-content compared with inorganic P-content. This
means that these methods cannot be uncritically applied to any samples.
2.2 Archaeobotany
The samples for botanical analyses were processed with a combination of flotation and sieving to assure the recovery of both carbonised and subfossil plant material. A mesh size of 200µ was used
only for smaller sediment volumes because of its tendency to clog. The paraffin flotation method for insects proved to be excellent for small seeds, and the samples processed for entomology were also
used for seed extraction. Subsamples of the insect samples were clean water floated through 200µ sieves as a control.
The carbonised plant material has in most cases a different origin than the subfossil material. Carbonisation obviously needs fire, and plants from food preparation or plant material brought
indoors may be charred in the hearth during daily household work or more occasionally in house fires. The carbonised plant material is more representative of economically valuable and useful
plants. Cereal grains as well as peas and beans are almost exclusively preserved by carbonisation.
2.3 Palaeoentomology
Samples selected for complete palaeoentomological analysis were processed according to the standard paraffin floatation method Coope Osborne 1968, as follows. Sediments were carefully
disaggregated in warm water over a 300 µ
sieve. Samples that proved difficult were soaked in a weak sodium hydroxide solution for a few days in order to aid separation. The cleaned sample was
drained, mixed with a small amount of paraffin, and then left to settle after filling with cold water. After 15 minutes the floatingsuspended proportion was poured into a 300
µ sieve, and the remaining
sediment stirred and re-floated. The flotation process is repeated three times, and then the contents of the sieve thoroughly washed in detergent in order to remove the paraffin. The float is then
washed with ethanol, transferred to a beaker of ethanol, and examined under a binocular microscope at x12 magnification. Identifiable and interesting insect fragments are picked out and placed in a
tube; these are then identified by comparison with a reference collection.
Processing and sorting was performed by Phil Buckland at the Umeå Environmental Archaeology Lab MAL, and insects were identified by Pat Wagner at the University of Sheffield. Interpretation
was aided by the Bugs Coleopteran Ecology Package Buckland et al., 1997.
Kaupang 2000, Environmental Archaeology
5
3. The Samples
