POLLEN ANALYSIS OF THE DOMESTIC BACKLOTS OF TWO NINETEENTH CENTURY AFRICAN-AMERICAN HOUSEHOLDS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

Summary

The members of complex societies create their own environments. These

environments reflect of the self-image of the people involved and other aspects

of their life styles. The vegetation on the cultural landscape is sensitive to

human activities, and the flora changes rapidly in response to shifts in land-use

practices across relatively short geographic distances and time spans.

Documents, the graphic arts, and photography have recorded some of the image

enhancing landscapes that socially prominent people have presented to the public over the last several hundred years. We know little about the utilitarian

landscapes of these people and even less about the landscape settings of the less affluent. Contextual archaeology, incorporating paleobotanical research,

archival sources, and material culture, can provide much of the desired

information about the private cultural landscapes of diverse elements of society

(Kelso 1993a, 1993b).

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• PaleoResearch Institute

Record Identifiers

PRI Technical Report(s): 94-51

File Information