Investigations of the Beeswax Cargo of the 1576 San Felipe Manila Galleon.

Summary

This paper presents the results of the investigation of the pollen inclusions from the beeswax cargo of the Manila galleon San Felipe wreck site of 1576. Though pollen has not previously been sucessfully extracted from rendered wax, through the application of a careful sampling process, paleoethnobotanical analysis has not only proved possible, but has yielded sufficiently well-preserved pollen to provide potential information concerning the environments where the wax was collected or rendered, thereby assisting in identifying the source of the cargo.

The full implications of this data are not yet fully understood as the point of contact between the pollen and the wax is uncertain. Even so, this research underscores the significance of careful sampling strategy and suggests the value of examining sometimes overlooked types of cargo in order to retrieve fresh, compelling data.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015   •
• Mercantilism and Hegemony; the crossroads of maritime ventures in the Americas from the 16th to 18th centuries

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 436