POLLEN ANALYSIS OF CONSTRUCTION DEPOSITS AT THE GOVERNOR'S PALACE, WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA

Summary

Pollen analysis in historical archaeology is usually focused on the nature

of occupation-period groundcover and the land-use practices of site inhabitants.

Palynology has also proven valuable in other kinds of historical studies. In an

investigation of 19th-and early 20th-century structures in Tucson, Arizona,

O'Rourke (1983) demonstrated that the pollen spectra of adobe bricks used the

portions of a building that were constructed at separate times differ

significantly from each other and that bricks used in repairs can be

distinguished from those of the original construction by their pollen content.

This study, which makes it possible to recognize construction phases in adobe

structures, was based on the premise that pollen production and deposition varies

across space and through time and that the pollen spectra of earth mined at

different times and places will, therefore, be different. This premise should

also apply to earth used in the construction of other kinds of structures,

provided that the deposits are sealed by the construction process and protected

from contamination by the subsequent pollen rain.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• PaleoResearch Institute

Record Identifiers

PRI Technical Report(s): 94-37

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