Taxonomic identification of dry and carbonized archaeobotanical remains of cucurbita species through seed coat micromorphology

Abstract

Cucurbita seeds are difficult to identify to species level using only their external morphology. In this contribution; we discuss anatomical features of fresh; dehydrated and experimentally carbonised specimens that are useful for the identification of archaeological Cucurbita seeds. Qualitative and quantitative differences in the seed coat micromorphology were found to be the most helpful diagnostic characteristics of South American Cucurbita species