Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-75dct Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-03T04:54:24.724Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Archaeological Palynology in the United States: A Critique

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Vaughn M. Bryant Jr.
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-4352
Stephen A. Hall
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1098

Abstract

Common problem areas in archaeological palynology include sampling, processing, counting, preservation, and interpretation. In this report, the authors present guidelines for researchers seeking pollen analyses, recommend the kinds of observations palynologists should make on their samples, and suggest ways of determining when samples should be considered invalid for paleoethnobotanical interpretations or paleoenvironmental reconstructions.

Resumen

Resumen

Las áreas problemáticas comunes en la palinología arqueológica incluyen muestreo, procesamiento, conteo, preservación, e interpretación. En este reporte, los autores presentan guías para investigadores en busca de análisis del polen. Se recomienda las clases de observaciones que los palinólogos deberían exponer en sus ejemplares y se sugieren maneras de determinar cuándo a estos ejemplares se los debería considerar nulos de interpretación paleoetnobotánica o de reconstrucciones paleo-ambientales.

Type
Reports
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Adams, D. P., and Mehringer, P. J. 1975 Modern Pollen Surface Samples— An Analysis of Subsamples. Journal of Research U. S. Geological Survey 3 : 733736.Google Scholar
Barkley, F. A. 1934 The Statistical Theory of Pollen Analysis. Ecology 47 : 439447.Google Scholar
Bond, T. 1964 Removal of Colloidal Material from Palynological Preparations. Oklahoma Geology Notes 24 : 212213.Google Scholar
Bryant, V. M., Jr. 1969 Late Full-Glacial and Post-Glacial Pollen Analysis of Texas Sediments. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Department of Botany, University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Bryant, V. M., Jr. 1988 Preservation of Biological Remains from Archaeological Sites. In Interdisciplinary Workshop on the Physical-Chemical-Biological Processes Affecting Archaeological Sites, edited by Mathewson, C., pp. 85115. U. S. Army Corp of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, Mississippi.Google Scholar
Bryant, V. M., Jr., and Holloway, R. G. 1983 The Role of Palynology in Archaeology. In Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, vol. 6, edited by Schiffer, M. B., pp. 191224. Academic Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryant, V. M., Jr., and Morris, D. P. 1986 Uses of Ceramic Vessels and Grinding Implements : The Pollen Evidence. In Archeological Investigations at Antelope House, by Morris, D. P., pp. 489500. Publications in Archeology No. 19. National Park Service, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Bryant, V. M., Jr., and Schoenwetter, J. 1987 Pollen Records from Lubbock Lake. In Lubbock Lake, Late Quaternary Studies on the Southern High Plains, edited by Johnson, E., pp. 640. Texas A&M University Press, College Station.Google Scholar
Bryant, V. M., Jr., and Weir, G. H. 1986 Pollen Analysis of Floor Sediment Samples : A Guide to Room Use. In Archeological Investigations at Antelope House, by Morris, D. P., pp. 5871. Publications in Archeology No. 19. National Park Service, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Bryant, V. M., Jr., Holloway, R. G., Jones, J. G., and Carlson, D. L. 1993 Pollen Preservation in Alkaline Soils of the American Southwest. In Sedimentation of Organic Particles, edited by A. Traverse. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, in press.Google Scholar
Clary, K. H. 1989 Reducing Ambiguity in the Archaeological Pollen Record by Improving Recovery of Economic Pollen. (Abstracts of the Proceedings of the Twenty-First Annual Meeting of the American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists.) Palynology 13 : 281.Google Scholar
Clisby, K. H., and Sears, P. B. 1956 San Augustine Plains-Pleistocene Climatic Changes. Science 124 : 537539.Google Scholar
Dean, G. 1991 Archaeobotanical Analysis of Pollen and Phytolith Samples from Prehistoric Structural and Agricultural Features at LA 2742, LA 70577, LA 71189, and LA 71190, Pot Creek Project, Taos County, New Mexico. Technical report No. 303. Castetter Laboratory for Ethnobotanical Studies, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Dimbleby, G. W. 1957 Pollen Analysis of Terrestrial Soils. New Phytologist 56 : 1228.Google Scholar
Dimbleby, G. W. 1985 The Palynology of Archaeological Sites. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Duhoux, E. 1982 Mechanism of Exine Rupture in Hydrated Taxoid Type of Pollen. Grana 21 : 17.Google Scholar
Faegri, K., Kaland, P. E., and Krzywinski, K. 1989 Textbook of Pollen Analysis. 4th ed. Hafner, New York.Google Scholar
Gish, J. 1993 Large Fraction Pollen Scanning and Its Application in Archaeology. In Archaeological Palynology, edited by O. Davis. American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists Contribution Series, Dallas, in press.Google Scholar
Goldstein, S. 1960 Degradation of Pollen by Phycomycetes. Ecology 41 : 543545.Google Scholar
Gray, J. 1961 Extraction Techniques. In Handbook of Paleontological Techniques, edited by Kummel, B. and Raup, D., pp. 530587. Freeman, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Hall, S. A. 1981 Deteriorated Pollen Grains and the Interpretation of Quaternary Pollen Diagrams. Review of Paleobotany and Palynology 32 : 193206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, S. A. 1985 Bibliography of Quaternary Palynology in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. In Pollen Records of Late-Quaternary North American Sediments, edited by Bryant, V. M., Jr., and Holloway, R. G., pp. 407423. American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists Foundation, Dallas.Google Scholar
Hall, S. A. 1991 Progressive Deterioration of Pollen Grains in South-Central U. S. Rockshelters. Journal ofPalynology (1990-1991) : 159164.Google Scholar
Havinga, A. J. 1964 Investigations into the Differential Corrosion Susceptibility of Pollen and Spores. Pollen et Spores 6 : 621635.Google Scholar
Havinga, A. J. 1984 A 20-Year Experimental Investigation into the Differential Corrosion Susceptibility of Pollen and Spores in Various Soil Types. Pollen et Spores 26 : 541558.Google Scholar
Hill, J., and Hevly, R. 1968 Pollen at Broken K Pueblo : Some New Interpretations. American Antiquity 33 : 200210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holloway, R. G. 1981 Preservation and Experimental Digenesis of the Pollen Exine. Unpublished Ph. D. Dissertation, Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station.Google Scholar
Holloway, R. G. 1989 Experimental Mechanical Pollen Degradation and Its Application to Quaternary Age Deposits. Texas Journal of Science 41 : 131145.Google Scholar
Horowitz, A., Gerald, R. E., and Chaiffetz, M. S. 1981 Preliminary Paleoenvironmental Implications of Pollen Analyzed from Archaic, Formative, and Historical Sites Near El Paso, Texas. Texas Journal of Science 33 : 6172.Google Scholar
King, J. E., Klippel, W. E., and Duffield, R. 1975 Pollen Preservation and Archaeology in Eastern North America. American Antiquity 40 : 180190.Google Scholar
Lennie, C. 1968 Palynological Techniques Used in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 11 : Google Scholar
Lennie, C. 1211-1221.Google Scholar
Martin, P. S. 1963 The Last 10, 000 Years : A Fossil Pollen Record of the American Southwest. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Moore, P., Webb, J., and Collinson, M. 1991 Pollen Analysis. 2nd ed. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Boston.Google Scholar
Morris, D. P. 1986 Archeological Investigations at Antelope House. Publications in Archeology No. 19. National Park Service, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Pearsall, D. M. 1989 Paleoethnobotany : A Handbook of Procedures. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Phipps, D., and Playford, G. 1984 Laboratory Techniques for Extraction of Palynomorphs from Sediments. Papers of the Department of Geology of the University of Queensland 11 : 123.Google Scholar
Sears, P. B. 1932 The Archaeology of Environment in Eastern North America. American Anthropologist 34 : 610622.Google Scholar
Sears, P. B. 1937 Pollen Analysis as an Aid in Dating Cultural Deposits in the United States. In Early Man, edited by Curdy, G. Mac, pp. 6166. Lippincott, London.Google Scholar
Sears, P. B., and Clisby, K. H. 1952 Two Long Climatic Records. Science 116 : 176178.Google Scholar
Shafer, H., and Holloway, R. 1979 Organic Residue Analysis in Determining Stone Tool Function. In Lithic Use-Wear Analysis, edited by Hayden, B., pp. 385399. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Stockmarr, J. 1971 Tablets with Spores Used in Absolute Pollen Analysis. Pollen el Spores 13 : 615621.Google Scholar
Sobolik, K. D. 1988 The Importance of Pollen Concentration Values from Coprolites : An Analysis of Southwest Texas Samples. Palynology 12 : 201214.Google Scholar
Traverse, A. 1989 Paleopalynology. Unwin Hyman, Boston.Google Scholar
Tschudy, R. 1969 Relationship of Palynomorphs to Sedimentation. In Aspects of Palynology, edited by Tschudy, R. and Scott, R., pp. 7996. John Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Williams-Dean, G. 1986 Pollen Analysis of Human Coprolites. In Archeological Investigations at Antelope House, by Morris, D. P., pp. 189205. Publications in Archeology No. 19. National Park Service, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar