From Plant Press Vol. 15 no. 4
On August 14, a producer from Oregon Public Broadcasting came to the department to interview Greg McKee about the kind of work done in herbaria. This was in conjunction with a visit to the Department of Archaeology by students from the Time Team America program. This program takes local students of high school age and exposes them to the kind of work done at archaeological sites in the hope that it will generate future scientists. The focus of McKee’s interview was how a herbarium is used by researchers to identify and store plant specimens, and how a herbarium is built from collections and exchanges. Of particular interest to the producer were plants considered medicinal by the medieval doctrine of signatures, Pulmonaria lobaria (lungwort lichen) being one example.
The following day McKee gave two lectures to Time Team America students on the application of botany to archaeology. The lectures took place at the Needwood Mansion in Montgomery County, Maryland, where there is an active dig by state archaeologists researching early African-American culture. The focus of the talk was on artifacts constructed of plant material, such as vine or bark baskets, gourd containers and a child’s training blow gun from Ecuador. In addition to plant food sources and construction materials, soil structure and seed banks were discussed, as well as signs of disturbed soil (e.g., aerial photographs) and their interpretation were covered.
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