Inter- and intra-observer variation in phytolith morphometry.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Archaeobotanists and palaeoecologists use geometric morphometrics extensively to identify plant opal phytoliths. Particularly when applied to assemblages of phytoliths from concentrations retrieved from closed contexts, morphometric data from archaeological phytoliths compared with similar data from reference material can allow taxonomic attribution. Observer variation is one aspect of phytolith morphometry that has received little attention but might be an important source of error and a potential cause of misidentification of plant remains.

Scope

To investigate inter- and intra-observer variation in phytolith morphometry, eight researchers (observers) from different laboratories measured 50 samples each from three phytolith morphotypes (Bilobate, Bulliform flabe

SUBMITTER: Out WA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12064434 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature