The study of the flora of ancient Egypt depends upon a range of different sources: texts, art, artefacts, and archaeobotanical remains of plants from ancient burials and settlements. For many years Egyptian archaeobotany depended upon the recovery of floral garlands, wooden objects, and plant-food remains such as baskets of fruit or grains from tombs, and desiccated plants that were clearly visible during excavation in settlements. Late twentieth-century developments in archaeology have led to major advances in the study of ancient flora, resulting from the use of extensive sampling strategies and various methods of very fine-sieving, as well as advances in microscopy. The recovery and analysis of plant remains offers opportunities to reveal insights into many aspects of ancient Egyptian life, for example agriculture, diet and health, economy, trade, technology, ecology, and environment.