EDF phytolith analysis from Heying site, southeast China, Shang-Zhou dynasties

In this article, we propose to make morphotypological phytolith analysis of Heying site during Shang-Zhou Period by two methods: measuring based on extended depth of focus (EDF) image and measuring directly under microscope, and then compare their results. The comparison shows that the results by these two methods match each other for paleoenvironmental and agricultural analysis. Results of two methods show that Heying site's environment should be warm and moist based on the predominance of some specific phytolith assemblages. The phytolith morpho-types originated from crop plants also indicates that rice planting was the mainstay agricultural economy. In comparison, the morphotypological analysis method based on EDF image took only about 1/10 the time as the original method by directly measuring under microscope. Thus, we can process more samples and make a more thorough and systematic morphotypological phytolith analysis with the same amount of time. Furthermore, the constructed EDF image can also be archived for future examination and for education. The above experiments indicate that the morphotypological analysis method based on EDF image is very promising for phytolith analysis.