The Use of Pollen Analysis in Archaeology

A detailed Summary of The Use of Pollen Analysis in Archaeology

The remains of ancient plants can provide a wealth of archaeological information about a site, with many methods being available to the archaeologist engaged in extracting this data. Perhaps one of the most widely-known of these techniques, possibly because of its attractive nature, is pollen analysis - a technique developed in the early years of the twentieth century by, like so many archaeological techniques, a geologist -- the Norwegian Lennart van Post. To understand the technique and the uses to which it may be put, we must first examine the biological nature of the material itself.

Because of a hard outer shell - the exine - pollen is particularly resistant to chemical attack and will survive in most conditions; the only environments which are truly hostile to this shell are abrasion, such as may be the case on sandy sites, and oxidation. However, the most favourable conditions for preservation of the pollen record are acidic, anaerobic sites such as peat bogs. This high degree of survivability combines with another factor inherent in the nature of pollen - the large amount produced - to make pollen analysis one of the most important tools available to the archaeologist. Though one further factor in the make-up of poll

en enhances its value, namely the wide morphological variation between pollen from different plant species, most of which can be detected and classified using normal laboratory equipment.

One project where such techniques have been particularly successful is in the studies carried out on the Hadar settlements of the Ome Valley in Ethiopia. Here, the present dry, arid climate was found to originate from about 2.5 MYA. Before that date a much wetter and greener environment is suggested by the presence of pollen from tropical plants.

Once collected the pollen is extracted from the soil, usually in the laboratory to avoid contamination, and analysed using a light, or scanning electron microscope (SEM). The wide differentiation in the size, shape and colour of the pollen grains enables identification to be made down to genera level. Following identification, the individual exines in a sub-set of the sample are quantified and plotted on a pollen analysis diagram, usually as a percentage of the whole. However skill on the part of the interpreter is required here as, already mentioned, certain plant types can over-represent themselves and the transport mechanisms of different plants may also vary, some for example being dispersed by insects whilst others are wind-blown. Pollen may also be found on a site as the result of other activities such as food preparation and consumption. The question which has to

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Approximate Word count = 953
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Science