POLLEN ANALYSIS OF CANAL TRAVERTINE, TEHUACAN VALLEY, MEXICO

Summary

Pollen samples were examined from two separate field seasons: 1993 and 2000. The first

pollen study was undertaken to evaluate the potential for pollen recovery from a variety of

proveniences such as abandoned agricultural fields, tecoates and travertine, as well as different

types of soil horizons. Evidence of agriculture and accompanying agricultural weeds was sought

in the agricultural samples. Recovery and identification of pollen was attempted and evaluated for

samples from the tecoates and travertine, since this had never been documented before. The first

samples examined the potential of extracting identifiable pollen from soil pockets within tecoate

sections and through dissolving travertine to recover pollen trapped when the travertine formed.

Recovery of pollen trapped in travertine was so successful that all pollen analysis conducted as part

of the 2000 field investigations was conducted on travertine sections that are associated with three

of the five spring systems examined in the Tehuacan Valley, Mexico. In addition, these samples

from the 2000 excavation year were examined for phytoliths in an effort to learn more about the

local grasses. These same sections of travertine were sampled for diatoms and radiocarbon

dating.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• PaleoResearch Institute

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