Archaeological starch spherulites discovered at the submerged 23,000-year-old site of Ohalo II, Sea of Galilee, Israel, provide a new line of archaeobotanical evidence for plant food processing. Six-hundred and thirty-two (632) starch spherulites were recovered from four stone implements. The analysis of starch spherulites from reliable archaeological contexts is a breakthrough that will potentially allow the identification of a range of plant processing and wet cooking activities. Our work provides a baseline for starch spherulite extraction and identification protocols. They were confirmed as spherulites using Lugol's iodine confirmation and the optical properties of the polarisation cross when rotated on a microscope stage under cross-polarised light. Their identification as starch spherulites was based on their archaeological context, size range and optical (polarized light and SEM) characteristics (including partial iodine uptake). Following our promising results, we encourage researchers to describe archaeological starch spherulite morphology and elemental characteristics in as much detail as possible. Future experimental archaeology work may find that these details provide evidence for how starch spherulites were formed through plant processing and cooking techniques.

在以色列加利利海 Ohalo II 淹没的 23,000 年历史遗址发现的考古淀粉球晶为植物食品加工提供了新的考古植物学证据。从四个石器中回收了六百三十二 (632) 个淀粉球晶。对来自可靠考古背景的淀粉球晶的分析是一项突破，有可能识别一系列植物加工和湿蒸煮活动。我们的工作为淀粉球晶提取和鉴定方案提供了基线。当在交叉偏振光下在显微镜载物台上旋转时，使用 Lugol 碘确认和偏振交叉的光学特性将它们确认为球晶。鉴定为淀粉球晶是基于他们的考古背景、尺寸范围和光学（偏振光和 SEM）特征（包括部分碘吸收）。根据我们有希望的结果，我们鼓励研究人员尽可能详细地描述考古淀粉球晶形态和元素特征。未来的实验考古工作可能会发现这些细节为淀粉球晶是如何通过植物加工和烹饪技术形成的提供了证据。