Mound Builders

Rooted in St. Louis: Professor Gayle Fritz illuminates the history of St. Louis human-plant relationships at Cahokia

How does one study plants that no longer exist? In short: burnt seeds. Paleoethnobotanists sift through ancient dirt at archaeological dig sites to find seeds preserved by partial burning. Once back at the lab, they spend much of their time studying minute differences in seed morphology.

| Staff Writer

Sign up for the email edition

Stay up to date with everything happening at Washington University and beyond.

Subscribe