Starch Remains and Stone Boiling in the Texas Panhandle Part II: Identifying Wildrye (Elymus spp.)

While the exploitation of grass seeds for food is a global phenomenon of great antiquity, there is little direct evidence for the consumption of wild grasses in the Plains. Recent investigations in the Texas panhandle have led to the discovery of the starchy remains of wildlye (Elymus spp.) grass seeds on both grinding and boiling stones from three sites inhabited by hunter/gatherers. Here we present a step-by-step narrative explaining how wildrye was identified in these securely food-related contexts. We hope that this discussion will augment the record of grass seed exploitation in the Plains by spurring more archaeobotanical work in the field of microfossil analysis.