Dolores Piperno

• B.A., Rutgers University
• M.A., Temple University
• Ph.D., Temple University

The archaeobotany, archaeology, and human ecology of the lowland American tropics together with the biogeographical and climatological history of the tropical biome.  A main focus of my career is the origins of agriculture through investigations of phytoliths, starch grains and pollen at archaeological sites in the Neotropics and elsewhere in the world. Another main focus is the impact and modern legacies of prehistoric human influences on Neotropical forests.

Journal Article

• Piperno, Dolores R., McMichael, Crystal N. H., Pitman, Nigel C. A., Paredes, Marcos Ríos, Torres-Montenegro, Luis, and Bush, Mark B. 2024. "Pre-Columbian vegetational and fire history in western Amazonia: Terrestrial soil phytolith and charcoal evidence from three regions." Quaternary International, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2024.01.011.
• Vargas-Machuca, B., Piperno, Dolores R., Böhnert, Tim, Stoll, Alexandra, Maldonado, Antonio, Arancio, Gina, Wennrich, Volker, and Melles, Martin. 2024. "Regional phytoliths from the Coastal Cordillera of the Atacama Desert, Chile, and their potential for paleoecological reconstructions." Quaternary International, 681 33–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2024.01.005.
• Witteveen, Nina H., White, Cheryl, Sánchez‐Martínez, Barbara A., Philip, Annemarie, Boyd, Femke, Booij, Roemer, Christ, Reyan, Singh, Santosh, Gosling, William D., Piperno, Dolores R., and McMichael, Crystal N. H. 2024. "Pre‐contact and post‐colonial ecological legacies shape Surinamese rainforests." Ecology, 105, (5). https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4272.
• McMichael, C. N. H., Levis, C., Gosling, W. D., Junqueira, A. B., Piperno, Dolores R., Neves, E. G., Mayle, F., Peña-Claros, M., and Bongers, F. 2023. "Spatial and temporal abilities of proxies used to detect pre-Columbian Indigenous human activity in Amazonian ecosystems." Quaternary Science Reviews, 321. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108354.
• Piperno, Dolores R. and McMichael, Crystal. 2023. "Phytoliths in modern plants from Amazonia and the Neotropics at large: II. Enhancement of eudicotyledon reference collections." Quaternary International, 655 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2023.01.010.
• McMichael, Crystal N. H., Vink, Veerle, Heijink, Britte M., Witteveen, Nina H., Piperno, Dolores R., Gosling, William D., and Bush, Mark B. 2022. "Ecological legacies of past fire and human activity in a Panamanian forest." PLANTS, PEOPLE, PLANET, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10344.
• Witteveen, N. H., Hobus, C. E. M., Philip, A., Piperno, Dolores R., and McMichael, C. N. H. 2022. "The variability of Amazonian palm phytoliths." Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 300. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2022.104613.
• Kunz, Matthias, Barrios, Hector, Dan, Michelle, Dogirama, Iran, Gennaretti, Fabio, Guillemette, Mathieu, Koller, Alexandra, Madsen, Chris, Lana, Gilberto, Ortega, Alexis, Ortega, Manuel, Paripari, Jose, Piperno, Dolores, Reich, Karl Friedrich, Simon, Thomas, Solis, Francisco, Solis, Porfirio, Valdes, Jorge, von Oheimb, Goddert, and Potvin, Catherine. 2022. "Bacurú Drõa: Indigenous forest custody as an effective climate change mitigation option. A case study from Darién, Panama." Frontiers in Climate, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2022.1047832.
• Heijink, Britte M., Mattijs, Quinten A., Valencia, Renato, Philip, Annemarie L., Piperno, Dolores R., and McMichael, Crystal N. H. 2022. "Long-term fire and vegetation change in northwestern Amazonia." Biotropica, https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.13175.
• Piperno, Dolores R., McMichael, Crystal H., Pitman, Nigel C. A., Guevara Andino, Juan Ernesto, Ríos Paredes, Marcos, Heijink, Britte M., and Torres-Montenegro, Luis A. 2021. "A 5,000-year vegetation and fire history for tierra firme forests in the Medio Putumayo-Algodón watersheds, northeastern Peru." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118, (40). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2022213118.
• Hamilton, Rebecca, Roberts, Patrick, and Piperno, Dolores R. 2021. "Tropical forests as key sites of the "Anthropocene": Past and present perspectives." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118, (40). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2109243118.
• Heijink, Britte M., McMichael, Crystal N. H., Piperno, Dolores R., Duivenvoorden, Joost F., Cárdenas, Dairon, and Duque, Álvaro. 2020. "Holocene increases in palm abundances in north-western Amazonia." Journal of Biogeography, 47, (3) 698–711. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13721.
• Piperno, Dolores R. and McMichael, Crystal N. H. 2020. "Phytoliths in modern plants from amazonia and the neotropics at large: Implications for vegetation history reconstruction." Quaternary International, 565 54–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2020.10.043.
• Piperno, Dolores R., Holst, Irene, Moreno, Jorge Enrique, and Winter, Klaus. 2019. "Experimenting with domestication: Understanding macro- and micro-phenotypes and developmental plasticity in teosinte in its ancestral pleistocene and early holocene environments." Journal of Archaeological Science, 108 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2019.05.006.
• Piperno, Dolores R., McMichael, Crystal N. H., and Bush, Mark B. 2019. "Finding forest management in prehistoric Amazonia." Anthropocene, 26 100211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2019.100211.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2018. "A model of agricultural origins." Nature Human Behaviour, 2, (7) 446–447. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0390-8.
• Dillehay, Tom D., Goodbred, Steve, Pino, Mario, Vásquez Sánchez, Víctor F., Tham, Teresa Rosales, Adovasio, James, Collins, Michael B., Netherly, Patricia J., Hastorf, Christine A., Chiou, Katherine L., Piperno, Dolores R., Rey, Isabel, and Velchoff, Nancy. 2017. "Simple technologies and diverse food strategies of the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene at Huaca Prieta, Coastal Peru." Science Advances, 3, (5). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1602778.
• Kennett, Douglas J., Thakar, Heather B., VanDerwarker, Amber M., Webster, David L., Culleton, Brendan J., Harper, Thomas K., Kistler, Logan J., Scheffler, Timothy E., and Hirth, Kenneth. 2017. "High-precision chronology for Central American maize diversification from El Gigante rockshelter, Honduras." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114, (34) 9026–9031. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1705052114.
• Lorant, Anne, Perdersen, Sarah, Holst, Irene, Hufford, Matthew B., Winter, Klaus, Piperno, Dolores R., and Ross-Ibarra, Jeffrey. 2017. "The Potential Role of Genetic Assimilation during Maize Domestication." PLoS One, 12, (9) e0184202. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0184202.
• McMichael, Crystal H., Feeley, Kenneth J., Dick, Christopher W., Piperno, Dolores R., and Bush, Mark B. 2017. "Comment on “Persistent effects of pre-Columbian plant domestication on Amazonian forest composition”." Science, 358, (6361). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aan8347.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2017. "Assessing elements of an extended evolutionary synthesis for plant domestication and agricultural origin research." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114, (25) 6429–6437. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1703658114.
• Piperno, Dolores R., McMichael, Crystal H., and Bush, Mark B. 2017. "Further evidence for localized, short-term anthropogenic forest alterations across pre-Columbian Amazonia." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114, (21) E4118–E4119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1705585114.
• Piperno, Dolores R., Ranere, Anthony J., Dickau, Ruth, and Aceituno, Francisco. 2017. "Niche construction and optimal foraging theory in Neotropical agricultural origins: A re-evaluation in consideration of the empirical evidence." Journal of Archaeological Science, 78 214–220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2017.01.001.
• Ball, Terry, Chandler-Ezell, Karol, Duncan, Neil, Dickau, Ruth, Hart, Thomas C., Iriarte, Jose, Lentfer, Carol, Logan, Amanda, Lu, Houyuan, Madella, Marco, Pearsall, Deborah M., Piperno, Dolores R., Rosen, Arlene M., Vrydaghs, Luc, Weisskopf, Alison, and Zhang, Jianping. 2016. "Phytoliths As a Tool for Investigations of Agricultural Origins and Dispersals Around the World." Journal of Archaeological Science, 68 32–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2015.08.010.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2016. "Phytolith Radiocarbon Dating in Archaeological and Paleoecological Research:A Case Study of Phytoliths from Modern Neotropical Plants and a Review of the Previous Dating Evidence." Journal of Archaeological Science, 68 54–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2015.06.002.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2016. "Standard evaluations of bomb curves and age calibrations along with consideration of environmental and biological variability show the rigor of phytolith dates on modern neotropical plants: Review of comment by Santos, Alexandre, and Prior." Journal of Archaeological Science, 71 59–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2016.01.013.
• Bush, Mark B., McMichael, Crystal H., Piperno, Dolores R., Silman, Miles R., Barlow, Jos, Peres, Carlos A., Power, Mitchell, and Palace, Michael W. 2015. "Anthropogenic influence on Amazonian forests in pre-history: An ecological perspective." Journal of Biogeography, 42, (12) 2277–2288. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.12638.
• Martín, Juan G., Mendizábal, Tomás, Schreg, Rainer, Cooke, Richard G., and Piperno, Dolores R. 2015. "Pre-Columbian raised fields in Panama: First evidence." Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 3 558–564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.08.018.
• McMichael, Crystal H., Piperno, Dolores R., and Bush, M. B. 2015. "Comment on Clement et al. 2015 'The domestication of Amazonia before European conquest'." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 282, (1821). https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.1837.
• McMichael, Crystal H., Piperno, Dolores R., Neves, Eduardo G., Bush, Mark B., Almeida, Fernando O., Mongeló, Guilherme, and Eyjolfsdottir, Margret B. 2015. "Phytolith Assemblages Along a Gradient of Ancient Human Disturbance in Western Amazonia." Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 3 141. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2015.00141.
• Piperno, Dolores R., Holst, Irene, Winter, Klaus, and McMillan, William Owen. 2015. "Teosinte before domestication: Experimental study of growth and phenotypic variability in Late Pleistocene and early Holocene environments." Quaternary International, 363 65–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.12.049.
• Piperno, Dolores R., McMichael, Crystal H., and Bush, Mark B. 2015. "Amazonia and the Anthropocene: What was the spatial extent and intensity of human landscape modification in the Amazon Basin at the end of prehistory?" The Holocene, 25, (10) 1588–1597. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683615588374.
• Grayson, D. K., Meltzer, D. J., Buikstra, J. E., Flannery, K. V., Fowler, C. S., Marcus, J., O'Connell, J. F., Piperno, Dolores R., Sabloff, J. A., Smith, Bruce D., Thomas, D. H., Willerslev, E., and Zeder, Melinda A. 2014. "Early Americans: Respecting ancestors." Science, 345, (6195) 390–390. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.345.6195.390-b.
• Gremillion, Kristen J., Barton, Loukas, and Piperno, Dolores R. 2014. "Reply to Smith: On distinguishing between models, hypotheses, and theoretical frameworks." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111, (28). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1408909111.
• Gremillion, Kristen J., Barton, Loukas, and Piperno, Dolores R. 2014. "Reply to Zeder: Maintaining a diverse scientific toolkit is not an act of faith." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111, (28). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1409072111.
• Gremillion, Kristen J., Barton, Loukas, and Piperno, Dolores R. 2014. "Particularism and the retreat from theory in the archaeology of agricultural origins." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111, (17) 6171–6177. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1308938110.
• Henry, Amanda G., Brooks, Alison S., and Piperno, Dolores R. 2014. "Plant foods and the dietary ecology of Neanderthals and early modern humans." Journal of human evolution, 69 44–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.12.014.
• Larson, Greger, Piperno, Dolores R., Allaby, Robin G., Purugganan, Michael D., Andersson, Leif, Arroyo-Kalin, Manuel, Barton, Loukas, Vigueira, Cynthia Climer, Denham, Tim, Dobney, Keith, Doust, Andrew N., Gepts, Paul, Gilbert, M. Thomas P., Gremillion, Kristen J., Lucas, Leilani, Lukens, Lewis, Marshall, Fiona B., Olsen, Kenneth M., Pires, J. C., Richerson, Peter J., de Casas, Rafael Rubio, Sanjur, Oris I., Thomas, Mark G., and Fuller, Dorian Q. 2014. "Current perspectives and the future of domestication studies." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111, (17) 6139–6146. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1323964111.
• Martin, Juan G., Mendizabal, Tomas, Schreg, Rainer, Piperno, Dolores R., and Cooke, Richard G. 2014. "First evidence for pre-Columbian raised fields in Central America." Antiquity, 89, (343).
• Flink, Linus Girdland, Allen, Richard, Barnett, Ross, Malmström, Helena, Peters, Joris, Eriksson, Jonas, Andersson, Leif, Dobney, Keith, and Larson, Greger. 2013. "Establishing the validity of domestication genes using DNA from ancient chickens." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111, (17). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1308939110.
• Fuller, Dorian Q., Denham, Tim, Arroyo-Kalin, Manuel, Lucas, Leilani, Stevens, Chris J., Qin, Ling, Allaby, Robin G., and Puruggana, Michael D. 2013. "Convergent evolution and parallelism in plant domestication revealed by an expanding archaeological record." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111, (17). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1308937110.
• Kraft, Kraig H., Brown, Cecil H., Nabhan, Gary P., Luedeling, Eike, Luna Ruiz, José,de Jes, d'Eeckenbrugge, Geo Coppens, Hijmans, Robert J., and Gepts, Paul. 2013. "Multiple lines of evidence for the origin of domesticated chili pepper, Capsicum annuum, in Mexico." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111, (17). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1308933111.
• McMichael, Crystal H., Bush, Mark B., Silman, Miles R., Piperno, Dolores R., Raczka, Marco, Lobato, Luiz C., Zimmerman, Monica, Hagen, Stephen, and Palace, Michael. 2013. "Historical fire and bamboo dynamics in western Amazonia." Journal of Biogeography, 40, (2) 299–309. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.12002.
• Dillehay, T. D., Bonavia, D., Goodbred, S., Pino, M., Vasquez, V., Tham, T. R., Conklin, W., Splitstoser, J., Piperno, Dolores R., Iriarte, J., Grobman, A., Levi-Lazzaris, G., Moreira, D., Lopez, M., Tung, T., Titelbaum, A., Verano, J., Adovasio, James M., Cummings, L. S., Bearez, P., Dufour, E., Tombret, O., Ramirez, M., Beavins, R., DeSantis, L. et al. 2012. "Chronology, mound-building and environment at Huaca Prieta, coastal Peru, from 13 700 to 4000 years ago." Antiquity, 86, (331) 48–70.
• Grobman, Alexander, Bonavia, Duccio, Dillehay, Tom D., Piperno, Dolores R., Iriarte, José, and Holst, Irene. 2012. "Preceramic maize from Paredones and Huaca Prieta, Peru." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109, (5) 1755–1759. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1120270109.
• Lachniet, Matthew S., Bernal, Juan Pablo, Asmerom, Yemane, Polyak, Victor, and Piperno, Dolores R. 2012. "A 2400 yr Mesoamerican rainfall reconstruction links climate and cultural change." Geology, 40, (3) 259–262. https://doi.org/10.1130/G32471.1.
• McMichael, Crystal H., Bush, Mark B., Piperno, Dolores R., Silman, Miles R., Zimmerman, Andrew R., and Anderson, Christina. 2012. "Spatial and temporal scales of pre-Columbian disturbance associated with western Amazonian lakes." The Holocene, 22, (2) 131–141. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683611414932.
• McMichael, Crystal H., Piperno, Dolores R., Bush, M. B., Silman, M. R., Zimmerman, A. R., Raczka, M. F., and Lobato, L. C. 2012. "Sparse Pre-Columbian Human Habitation in Western Amazonia." Science, 336, (6087) 1429–1431. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1219982.
• Nadel, Dani, Piperno, Dolores R., Holst, Irene, Snir, Ainit, and Weiss, Ehud. 2012. "New evidence for the processing of wild cereal grains at Ohalo II, a 23 000-year-old campsite on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel." Antiquity, 86, (334) 990–1003.
• Sheets, Payson, Lentz, David, Piperno, Dolores R., Jones, John, Dixon, Christine, Maloof, George, and Hood, Angela. 2012. "Ancient Manioc Agriculture South of the Ceren Village, El Salvador." Latin American Antiquity, 23, (3) 259–281. https://doi.org/10.7183/1045-6635.23.3.259.
• Henry, Amanda G., Brooks, Alison S., and Piperno, Dolores R. 2011. "Microfossils in calculus demonstrate consumption of plants and cooked foods in Neanderthal diets (Shanidar III, Iraq; Spy I and II, Belgium)." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108, (2) 486–491. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1016868108.
• Henry, Amanda G., Brooks, Alison S., and Piperno, Dolores R. 2011. "Reply to Collins and Copeland: Spontaneous gelatinization not supported by evidence." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108, (22) E146–E146. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1104199108.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2011. "The Origins of Plant Cultivation and Domestication in the New World Tropics." Current Anthropology, 52, (S4) S453–S470. https://doi.org/10.1086/659998.
• Kennett, Douglas J., Piperno, Dolores R., Jones, John G., Neff, Hector, Voorhies, Barbara, Walsh, Megan K., and Culleton, Brendan J. 2010. "Pre-Pottery Farmers on the Pacific Coast of Southern Mexico." Journal of Archaeological Science, 37, (12) 3401–3411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2010.07.035.
• Gremillion, Kristin and Piperno, Dolores R. 2009. "Human behavioral ecology, phenotypic plasticity, and agricultural origins: Insights from the emerging evolutionary synthesis." Current Anthropology, 50 615–619.
• Henry, Amanda G., Hudson, Holly F., and Piperno, Dolores R. 2009. "Changes in starch grain morphologies from cooking." Journal of Archaeological Science, 36, (3) 915–922. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2008.11.008.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2009. "Identifying crop plants with phytoliths (and starch grains) in Central and South America: A review and an update of the evidence." Quaternary International, 193 146–159.
• Piperno, Dolores R., Ranere, Anthony J., Holst, Irene, Iriarte, Jose, and Dickau, Ruth. 2009. "Starch grain and phytolith evidence for early ninth millennium B.P. maize from the Central Balsas River Valley, Mexico." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106, (13) 5019–5024. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0812525106.
• Ranere, Anthony J. and Piperno, Dolores R. 2009. "Reply to Perttula: Identifying an early Holocene projectile point type from central Mexico." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106, (27) E74–E74. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0905971106.
• Ranere, Anthony J., Piperno, Dolores R., Holst, Irene, Dickau, Ruth, and Iriarte, José. 2009. "The cultural and chronological context of early Holocene maize and squash domestication in the Central Balsas River Valley, Mexico." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106, (13) 5014–5018. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0812590106.
• Henry, Amanda G. and Piperno, Dolores R. 2008. "Using plant microfossils from dental calculus to recover human diet: a case study from Tell al-Raqa'i, Syria." Journal of Archaeological Science, 35, (7) 1943–1950. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2007.12.005.
• Piperno, Dolores R. and Dillehay, Tom D. 2008. "Starch grains on human teeth reveal early broad crop diet in northern Peru." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105, (50) 19622–19627. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0808752105.
• Holst, Irene, Moreno, Enrique, and Piperno, Dolores R. 2007. "Identification of teosinte, maize, and Tripsacum in Mesoamerica by using pollen, starch grains, and phytoliths." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104, (45) 17608–17613. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0708736104.
• Perry, Linda, Dickau, Ruth, Zarrillo, Sonia, Holst, Irene, Pearsall, Deborah M., Piperno, Dolores R., Berman, Mary Jane, Cooke, Richard G., Rademaker, Kurt, Ranere, Anthony J., Raymond, J. Scott, Sandweiss, Daniel H., Scaramelli, Franz, Tarble, Kay, and Zeidler, James A. 2007. "Starch fossils and the domestication and dispersal of chili peppers (Capsicum spp. L.) in the Americas." Science, 315, (5814) 986–988. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1136914.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2007. "identifying crop plants with phytoliths (and starch grains) in central and south america: a review and an update of the evidence." Quaternary International, doi:10.1016 1–52.
• Piperno, Dolores R., Moreno, Jorge Enrique, Iriarte, Jose, Holst, Irene, Lachniet, Matthew S., Jones, John G., Ranere, Anthony J., and Castanzo, R. 2007. "Late Pleistocene and Holocene environmental history of the Iguala Valley, Central Balsas Watershed of Mexico." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104, (29) 11874–11881. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0703442104.
• Pohl, Mary E. D., Piperno, Dolores R., Pope, Kevin O., and Jones, John G. 2007. "Microfossil evidence for pre-Columbian maize dispersals in the neotropics from San Andrés, Tabasco, Mexico." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104, (16) 6870–6875. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0701425104.
• Perry, Linda, Sandweiss, Daniel H., Piperno, Dolores R., Rademaker, Kurt, Malpass, Michael A., Umire, Adán, and de la Vera, Pablo. 2006. "Early Maize Agriculture and Interzonal Interaction in Southern Peru." Nature, 440, (7080) 76–79. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04294.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2006. "Quaternary Environmental History and Agricultural Impact on Vegetation in Central America." Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 93, (2) 274–296. https://doi.org/10.3417/0026-6493(2006)93[274:QEHAAI]2.0.CO;2.
• Piperno, Dolores R. and Sues, Hans-Dieter. 2005. "Dinosaurs Dined on Grass." Science, 310, (5751) 1126–1128.
• Lachniet, Matthew S., Burns, Stephen J., Piperno, Dolores R., Asmerom, Yemane, Polyak, Victor J., Moy, Christopher M., and Christenson, Keith. 2004. "A 1500-Year El Niño/Southern Oscillation and Rainfall History for the Isthmus of Panamá From Speleothem Calcite." Journal of Geophysical Research, 109 D20117.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2004. "Under the Canopy: The Archaeology of Rropical Rain Forests, Edited by Julio Mercader." The Quarterly review of biology, (3) 324–325.
• Piperno, Dolores R., Weiss, Ehud, Holst, Irene, and Nadel, Dani. 2004. "Processing of Wild Cereal Grains in the Upper Palaeolithic Revealed by Starch Grain Analysis." Nature, 430, (7000) 670–673.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2003. "A Few Kernels Short of a Cob: On the Staller and Thompson Late Entry Scenario for the Introduction of Maize into Northern South America." Journal of Archaeological Science, (7) 831–836.
• Piperno, Dolores R. and Jones, John G. 2003. "Paleoecological and Archaeological Implications of a Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene Record of Vegetation and Climate From the Pacific Coastal Plain of Panamá." Quarterly Research, 59, (1) 79–87.
• Piperno, Dolores R. and Stothert, Karen E. 2003. "Phytolith Evidence for Early Holocene Cucurbita Domestication in Southwest Ecuador." Science, 299, (5609) 1054–1057.
• Stothert, K. E., Piperno, Dolores R., and Andres, T. C. 2003. "Terminal Pleistocene Early Holocene human adaptation in coastal Ecuador: the Las Vegas evidence." Quaternary International, 109 23–43.
• Piperno, Dolores R., Holst, Irene, Wessel-Beaver, Linda, and Andres, Thomas C. 2002. "Evidence for the Control of Phytolith Formation in Cucurbita Fruits by the Hard Rind (Hr) Genetic Locus: Archaeological and Ecological Implications." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 99, (16) 10923–10928.
• Sanjur, Oris I., Piperno, Dolores R., Andres, Thomas C., and Wessel-Beaver, Linda. 2002. "Phylogenetic Relationships Among Domesticated and Wild Species of Cucurbita (Cucurbitaceae) Inferred From a Mitochondrial Gene: Implications for Crop Plant Evolution and Areas of Origin." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 99, (1) 535–540.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2001. "On Maize and the Sunflower." Science, (5525) 2260–2261.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2001. "Archaeology - On maize and the sunflower." Science, 292, (5525) 2260–2261.
• Piperno, Dolores R. and Flannery, Kent V. 2001. "The Earliest Archaeological Maize (Zea Mays L.) From Highland Mexico: New Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Dates and Their Implications." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 98, (4) 2101–2103.
• Piperno, Dolores R., Andres, Thomas C., and Stothert, Karen E. 2000. "Phytoliths in Cucurbita and Other Neotropical Cucurbitaceae and Their Occurrence in Early Archaeological Sites From the Lowland American Tropics." Journal of Archaeological Science, 27, (3) 193–208.
• Piperno, Dolores R., Ranere, Anthony J., Holst, Irene, and Hansell, Patricia. 2000. "Starch Grains Reveal Early Root Crop Horticulture in the Panamanian Tropical Forest." Nature, 407, (6806) 894–897.
• Zhao, Zhijun and Piperno, Dolores R. 2000. "Late Pleistocene/Halocene Environments in the Middle Yangtze River Valley, China and Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) Domestication: the Phytolith Evidence." Geoarchaeology, (2) 203–222.
• Jiang, Qinhua and Piperno, Dolores R. 1999. "Environmental and Archaeological Implications of a Late Quaternary Palynological Sequence, Poyang Lake, Southern China." Quaternary Research, 52, (2) 250–258.
• Piperno, Dolores R., Pearsall, Deborath M., Benfer, Robert A., Jr., Kealhofer, Lisa, Zhao, Zhijun, and Jiang, Qinhua. 1999. "Phytolith Morphology." Science, 283, (5406) 1265–1266.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 1998. "Paleoethnobotany in the Neotropics From Microfossils: New Insight into Ancient Plant Use and Agricultural Origins in the Tropical Forest." Journal of World Prehistory, (4) 393–449.
• Piperno, Dolores R. and Holst, Irene. 1998. "The Presence of Starch Grains on Prehistoric Stone Tools From the Humid Neotropics: Indications of Early Tuber Use and Agriculture in Panamá." Journal of Archaeological Science, (8) 765–776.
• Zhao, Zhijun, Pearsall, Deborah M., Benfer, Robert A., Jr., and Piperno, Dolores R. 1998. "Distinguishing Rice (Oryza Sativa Poaceae) From Wild Oryza Species Through Phytolith Analysis, II: Finalized Method." Economic Botany, 52, (2) 134–145.
• Piperno, Dolores R. and Becker, P. 1996. "Vegetational history of a site in the central Amazon basin derived from phytolith and charcoal records from natural soils." Quaternary Research, 45, (2) 202–209.
• Piperno, Dolores R. and Becker, Peter F. 1996. "Vegetational history of a site in the central Amazon Basin derived from phytolith and charcoal records from natural soils." Quaternary Research Orlando, 45, (2) 202–209.
• Pohll, Mary D., Pope, Kevin O., Jones, John G., Jacob, John S., Piperno, Dolores R., deFrance, Susan D., Lentz, David L., Gifford, John A., Danforth, Marie E., and Josserand, J. K. 1996. "Early agriculture in the Maya lowlands." Latin American Antiquity, 7, (4) 355–372.
• Pearsall, D. M., Piperno, Dolores R., Dinan, E. H., Umlauf, R., Zhao, Z. J., and Benfer, R. A. 1995. "Distinguishing Rice (Oryza-Sativa Poaceae) from Wild Oryza Species through Phytolith Analysis - Results of Preliminary Research." Economic Botany, 49, (2) 183–196.
• Kealhofer, Lisa and Piperno, Dolores R. 1994. "Early Agriculture in Southeast Asia: Phytolith Evidence from the Bang Pakong Valley, Thailand." Antiquity, 68 564–572.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 1994. "On the emergence of agriculture in the New World." Current Anthropology, 35, (5) 637–643.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 1994. "Phytolith and charcoal evidence for prehistoric slash-and-burn agriculture in the Darien rain forest of Panama." The Holocene, 4, (3) 321–325.
• Piperno, Dolores R. and Pearsall, Deborah M. 1993. "Phytoliths in the reproductive structures of maize and teosinte: Implications for the study of maize evolution." Journal of Archaeological Science, 20, (3) 337–362.
• Bush, M. B., Piperno, Dolores R., Colinvaux, Paul A., Deoliveira, P. E., Krissek, L. A., Miller, M. C., and Rowe, W. E. 1992. "A 14 300-Yr Paleoecological Profile of a Lowland Tropical Lake in Panama." Ecological Monographs, 62, (2) 251–275.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 1991. "The Status of Phytolith Analysis in the American Tropics." Journal of Wold Prehistory, 5, (2) 155–191.
• Piperno, Dolores R., Bush, Mark B., and Colinvaux, Paul A. 1991. "Paleoecological Perspectives on Human Adaptation in Central Panama. II The Holocene." Geoarchaeology, 6 227–250.
• Piperno, Dolores R., Bush, Mark B., and Colinvaux, Paul A. 1991. "Paleoecological Perspectives on Human Adaptation in Central Panama. I. The Pleistocene." Geoarchaeology, 6 201–226.
• Bush, Mark B., Colinvaux, Paul A., Wiemann, Michael C., Piperno, Dolores R., and Liu, Kam-Biu. 1990. "Late Pleistocene Temperature Depression and Vegetation Change in Ecuadorian Amazonia." Quaternary Research, 34, (3) 330–345.
• Ciochon, R. L., Piperno, Dolores R., and Thompson, R. G. 1990. "Opal Phytoliths found on the Teeth of the Extinct Ape Gigantopithecus-Blacki - Implications for Paleodietary Studies." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 87, (20) 8120–8124.
• Pearsall, Deborath M. and Piperno, Dolores R. 1990. "Antiquity of Maize Cultivation in Ecuador: Summary and Reevaluation of the Evidence." American Antiquity, 55, (2) 324–337.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 1990. "Aboriginal Agriculture and Land Usage in the Amazon Basin, Ecuador." Journal of Archaeological Science, 17 665–677.
• Piperno, Dolores R., Bush, M. B., and Colinvaux, Paul A. 1990. "Paleoenvironments and Human Occupation in Late-Glacial Panama." Quaternary Research, 33, (1) 108–116.
• Piperno, Dolores R., Bush, Mark B., and Colinvaux, Paul A. 1990. "Paleoenvironments and Human Occupation in Late-Glacial Panama." Quarterly Research, 33, (1) 108–116.
• Piperno, Dolores R. and Ciochon, R. 1990. "Scratching the Surface of Evolution." New Scientist, 128, (1742) 47–49.
• Bush, M. B., Piperno, Dolores R., and Colinvaux, Paul A. 1989. "A 6,000 Year History of Amazonian Maize Cultivation." Nature, 340, (6231) 303–305.
• Ciochon, Russell L. and Piperno, Dolores R. 1989. "Diet of Gigantopithecus blacki: New Evidence from Opal Phytoliths found Bonded to the Enamel Surfaces of its Teeth." American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 78, (2) 204.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 1989. "The Occurrence of Phytoliths in the Reproductive Structures of Tropical Angiosperms and Their Significance in Tropical Palaecology, Paleoethnobotany, and Systematics." Review of palaeobotany and palynology, 61 147–273.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 1989. "The Occurrence of Phytoliths in the Reproductive Structures of Selected Tropical Angiosperms and their Significance in Tropical Paleoecology, Paleoethnobotany and Systematics." Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 61, (1-2) 147–173.
• Siemens, A. H., Hebda, R. J., Hernandez, M. N., Piperno, Dolores R., Stein, J. K., and Baez, M. G. Z. 1988. "Evidence for a Cultivar and a Chronology from Patterned Wetlands in Central Veracruz, Mexico." Science, 242, (4875) 105–107.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 1985. "Phytolithic analysis of geological sediments from Panama." Antiquity, 59 13–19.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 1985. "Phytolith taphonomy and distributions in archeological sediments from Panama." Journal of Archaeological Science, 12 247–267.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 1985. "Phytolith analysis and tropical paleo-ecology: production and taxonomic significance of siliceous forms in New World plant domesticates and wild species." Review of Paleobotany and Palynology, 45 185–228.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 1985. "Phytolith Analysis and Tropical Paleo-Ecology - Production and Taxonomic Significance of Siliceous Forms in New World Plant Domesticates and Wild-Species." Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 45, (3-4) 185–228.
• Piperno, Dolores R., Clary, Karen Husum, Cooke, Richard G., Ranere, Anthony J., and Weiland, Doris. 1985. "Preceramic maize in Central Panama: Phytolith and Pollen Evidence." American Anthropologist, 87, (4) 871–877.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 1984. "A comparison and differentiation of phytoliths from maize and wild grasses: use of morphological criteria." American Antiquity, 49, (2) 361–383.

Book Chapter

• Piperno, Dolores R. 2020. "Plant Cultivation and Domestication at the Vegas Sites: New Evidence from Starch Grain Studies of Human Teeth." In Las Vegas: the Early Holocene Archaeology of Human Occupation in Coastal Ecuador. Stahl, P. W. and Stothert, K. E., editors. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: University of Pittsburgh. In Latin American Archaeology, 25.
• Piperno, Dolores R., Messner, T., and Holst, I. 2017. "Starch Grains." In In Where the Land Meets the Sea: Fourteen Millennia of Human Behavior at Huaca Prieta, Peru. Dillehay, T. D., editor. 683–688. Austin: University of Texas Press.
• Dillehay, T. D. and Piperno, Dolores R. 2013. "Domestication and the Formative in South America." In The Cambridge world prehistory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2012. "New Archaeobotanical Information on Early Cultivation and Plant domestication Involving Microplant Remains." In Biodiversity in Agriculture: Domestication, Evolution, & Sustainability. Gepts, P., Famula, T. R., Bettinger, R. L., Brush, S. B., Damania, A. B., McGuire, P. E., and Qualset, C. O., editors. 136–159. New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Piperno, Dolores R. and Smith, Bruce D. 2012. "The Origins of Food Production in Mesoamerica." In The Handbook of Mesoamerican Archaeology. Nichols, D. L. and Poole, C., editors. 151–168. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2011. "Prehistoric Human Occupation and Impacts on Tropical Forest Landscapes During the Late Pleistocene and Early/Middle Holocene." In Tropical Rainforest Responses to Climate and Human Influences. Flenley, J. and Bush, M. B., editors. 185–212. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2011. "Northern Peruvian Early and Middle Preceramic Agriculture in Central and South American Context." In Early Foragers and Food Producers in the Andes. Dillehey, T. D., editor. 275–284. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2007. "Fitolitos y carbón; evidencia de agricultura de roza y quema prehistórica en el bosque húmedo tropical de Darién en Panamá." In Ecología y evolución en los trópicos. Leigh, Egbert Giles, Jr., Herre, Edward Allen, Jackson, Jeremy B. C., and Santos-Granero, Fernando, editors. 601–607. Panama: Editora Nova Art.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2007. "Fitolitos y carbón microscópico del trayecto 155: historia de vegetación y fuego en la cuenca amazónica durante los últimos 75,000 años." In Ecología y evolución en los trópicos. Leigh, Egbert Giles, Jr., Herre, Edward Allen, Jackson, Jeremy B. C., and Santos-Granero, Fernando, editors. 337–348. Panama: Editora Nova Art.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2007. "Prehistoric Human Occupation and Impacts on Neotropical Forest Landscapes During the Late Pleistocene and Early/Middle Holocene." In Tropical Rainforest Responses to Climate Change. Flenley, John R. and Bush, Mark B., editors. 193–218. Springer/Praxis.
• Piperno, Dolores R., Ranere, Anthony J., Holst, Irene, and Hansell, Patricia. 2007. "Granos de almidón revelan una agricultura primitiva de raíces en un bosque húmedo tropical de Panamá." In Ecología y evolución en los trópicos. Leigh, Egbert Giles, Jr., Herre, Edward Allen, Jackson, Jeremy B. C., and Santos-Granero, Fernando, editors. 594–600. Panama: Editora Nova Art.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2006. "A behavioral ecological approach to the origins of plant cultivation and domestication in the seasonal tropical forests of the New World." In Foraging Theory and the Transition to Agriculture. Kennett, Douglas and Winterhalder, Bruce, editors. 137–166. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2006. "Identifying Manioc (Manihot esculenta Crantz) and Other Crops in Pre-Columbian Tropical America Through Starch Grain Analysis:A Case Study from Central Panamá." In Documenting Domestication: New Genetic and Archaeological Paradigms. Zeder, Melinda A., Bradley, Dan, Emschwiller, Eve, and Smith, Bruce D., editors. 46–67. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2006. "The Origins of Plant Cultivation and Domestication in the Neotropics: A Behavioral Ecological Perspective." In Foraging Theory and the Transition to Agriculture. Kennett, Douglas and Winterhalder, Bruce, editors. 137–166. University of California Press.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2004. "Crop Domestication in the American Tropics: Phytolith Analyses." In Encyclopedia of Plant & Crop Science. Goodman, Robert, editor. 326. Dekker, Inc.
• Piperno, Dolores R. and Holst, Irene. 2004. "Crop Domestication in the American Tropics: Starch Grain Analyses." In Encyclopedia of Plant & Crop Science. Goodman, Robert, editor. 330. Dekker, Inc.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 2001. "Phytoliths." In Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments. Smol, J. P., Birks, H. J. B., and Last, W. M., editors. 235. Kluwer Academic Publishers.
• Piperno, Dolores R. and Blake, Michael. 1999. "The Origins and Development of Food Production in Pacific Panamá." In Pacific Latin America in Prehistory : the Evolution of Archaic and Formative Cultures. Bkale, Michael, editor. 123. WSU Press.
• Cooke, Richard G. and Piperno, Dolores R. 1997. "Le peuplement de l'Amerique Centrale et de l"amerique du Sud et les adaptationsaux forests tropicales avant la colonisation europeene." In Les ressources alimentaires: Production et Consommation. Hladik, Claude Marcela, Hladik, Annette, Pagezy, Helene, Linares, Olga F., Kopper, Georgius J. A., and Froment, Alain, editors. 77–96. Paris: UNESCO. 1 in L'Alimentaton en Foret Tropicale.Interactions bioculturelles er perspectives de developpement..
• Cooke, Richard G., Norr, Lynette, and Piperno, Dolores R. 1996. "Native Americans and the Panamanian landscape." In Case Studies in Environmental Archaeology. Reitz, E. J., Newsom, L. A., and Scudder, S. J., editors. 103–126. New York: Plenum Press.
• Cooke, Richard G. and Piperno, Dolores R. 1996. "Le Peuplement de LAmérique Centrale et de LAmérique du Sud et les Adaptations: Aux Forêt Tropicales Avant la Colonisation Européenne." In L'Alimentation en Forêt Tropicale: Interactions Bioculturelles et Perspectives de Développement. Hladik, Claude Marcela, Hladik, Annette, Pagezy, H., Linares, Olga F., Koppert, G. J. A., and Froment, A., editors. 77–96. Paris: UNESCO.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 1995. "Plant Microfossils and their Application in the New World Tropics." In Archaeology in the Lowland American Tropics. Stahl, Peter W., editor. 130–153. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 1994. "Phytolith records from the Proyecto Prehistorico Arenal." In Archaeology, volcanism, and remote sensing in the Arenal region, Costa Rica.. Sheets, Payson D. and McKee, Brian R., editors. 286–292. Austin, TX, United States: University of Texas Press.
• Cooke, Richard G. and Piperno, Dolores R. 1993. "Native American Adaptations to the Tropical Forests of Central and South America, Before the European Colonization." In Tropical Forests, People and Food. Hladik, Claude Marcela, Hladik, Annette, Linares, Olga F., Pagezy, H., Semple, A., and Hadley, M., editors. 25–36. Paris: The Partenon Publishing Group.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 1993. "Phytolith and Charcoal Records from Deep Lake Cores in the American Tropics." In Current Research in Phytolith Analysis:. Pearsal, Deborah M. and Piperno, Dolores R., editors. 59–71. Philadelphia: MASCA. 10 in Research Papers in Science and Archaeology.
• Piperno, Dolores R. and Pearsall, Deborah M. 1993. "The Nature and Status of Phytolith Analysis." In Current Research in Phytolith Analysis. Pearsall, Deborah M. and Piperno, Dolores R., editors. 9–18. Philadelphia: MASCA. 10 in Research Papers in Science and Archaeology.
• Piperno, Dolores R., Bush, Mark B., and Colinvaux, Paul A. 1992. "Patterns of articulation of Culture and the Plant World in Prehistoric Panama 11,500-BP-3000 BP." In Archaeology and Environment in Latin America. Ortiz-Troncoso, Omar and van Der Hammen, thomas, editors. 109–127. Amsterdam: Institut Voor Pre-En Protohistorische Archeologie Albert Egges Van Giffen (IPP).
• Piperno, Dolores R. 1990. "Fitolitos, Arqueología y Cambios Prehistóricos de la Vegetación en un Lote de Cincuenta Hectáreas de la Isla de Barro Colorado." In Ecología de un bosque tropical: ciclos estacionales y cambios a largo plazo. Rand, Austin Stanley, Windsor, Donald M., and Leigh, Egbert Giles, Jr., editors. 153–156. Balboa, Republic of Panama: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 1989. "Non-Affluent Foragers: Resource Availability, Seasonal Shortages and the Emergence of Agriculture in Panamanian Forests." In Foraging and Farming: The Evolution of Plant Exploitation. Harris, David J. and Hillman, G., editors. 538–554. London: Unwin-Hyman.
• Cooke, Richard G., Piperno, Dolores R., Ranere, Anthony J., Clary, Karen Husum, Hansell, Patricia, Olson, Storrs L., Wilson, Valerio L., and Weiland, Doris. 1985. "La influencia de las poblaciones humanas sobre los ambientes terrestres de Panamá entre el 10,000 A.C. y el 500 D.C." In Agonía de la Naturaleza Ensayos sobre el costo ambiental del desarrollo Panameño. Heckadon-Moreno, Stanley and Espinosa González, Jaime, editors. 3–25. Panamá: Instituto de Investigación Agropecuaria de Panamá and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.
• Piperno, Dolores R. and Clary, Karen Musum. 1984. "Early plant use and cultivation in the Santa Maria Basin, Panama: Data from phytoliths and pollen." In Recent Developments in Isthmian Archaeology: Advances in the Prehistory of Lower Central America. Lange, Frederick W., editor. 85–122. Oxford, England: B.A.R. 212 in BAR International Series.

Book

• Piperno, Dolores R. 2006. Phytoliths: a Comprehensive Guide for Archaeologists and Paleoecologists. Lanham, MD: Altamira Press.
• Kealhofer, Lisa and Piperno, Dolores R. 1998. Opal Phytoliths in Southeast Asian Flora. In Smithsonian Contributions to Botany, 88. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.0081024X.88.
• Piperno, Dolores R. and Pearsal, Deborah M. 1998. Origins of Agriculture in the Lowland Neotropics. Academic Press.
• Piperno, Dolores R. and Pearsall, Deborah M. 1998. The Silica Bodies of Tropical American Grasses: Morphology, Taxonomy, and Implications for Grass Systematics and Fossil Phytolith Identification. In Smithsonian Contributions to Botany, 85. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.0081024X.85.
• Piperno, Dolores R. 1988. Phytolith Analysis An Archaeological and Geological Perspective. San Diego: Academic Press.

Book Review

• Piperno, Dolores R. 1995. [Book review] "Archaeology, Adventure, Existencialism, by John Hedges." Antiquity, 69, (264), 641–642.

Dissertation/Thesis

• Piperno, Dolores R. 1983. "The Application of Phytolith Analisys to the Reconstruction of Plant Subsistence and Environments in Prehistoric Panamá(Ph.D. Dissertation)." Temple University.