Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Pollen and Archaeology

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Handbook for the Analysis of Micro-Particles in Archaeological Samples

Part of the book series: Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology ((IDCA))

Abstract

This chapter is about the contribution pollen analysis can make to archaeological research. It discusses the potential of the single species, pollen combined in a single spectrum, and the pollen diagram. Examples are presented of each category and, in the case of pollen diagrams, of the way of presenting the data. Sources of pollen, sampling methods, and the treatment of the material are mentioned. The chapter ends with a discussion on the biases encountered during the interpretation of the results.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 64.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Argant, J., & Dimitrijević, V. (2007). Pollen analyses of Pleistocene hyaena coprolites from Montenegro and Serbia. Annales Géologiques de la Péninsule Balkanique, 68, 73–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bakels, C. (1988). Pollen from plaggen soils in the province of North Brabant, The Netherlands. In W. Groenman-van Waateringe & M. Robinson (Eds.), Man made soils. BAR international series 410 (pp. 35–54). Oxford: BAR.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakels, C. (2017). Medieval impacts on the vegetation around the confluence of the river Meuse and its tributary the Swalm, the Netherlands. Netherlands Journal of Geosciences, 96, 165–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Behre, K. E., & KucÇŽn, D. (1986). Die Reflektion archäologisch bekannter Siedlungen in Pollendiagrammen verschiedener Entfernung - Beispiele aus der Siedlungskammer Flögeln, Nordwestdeutschland. In K.-E. Behre (Ed.), Anthropogenic indicators in pollen diagrams (pp. 94–114). Rotterdam: Balkema.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boi, M. (2017). Pollen on the shroud of Turin: The probable trace left by anointing and embalming. Archaeometry, 59, 316–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bottema, S. (1975). The interpretation of pollen spectra from prehistoric settlements (with special attention to Liguliflorae). Palaeohistoria, 17, 17–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broström, A., Nielsen, A. B., Gaillard, M.-J., Hjelle, K., Mazier, F., Binney, H., Bunting, J., Fyfe, R., Meltsov, V., Poska, A., Räsänen, S., Soepboer, W., Von Stedingk, H., Suutari, H., & Sugita, S. (2008). Pollen productivity estimates of key European plant taxa for quantitative reconstruction of past vegetation: A review. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 17, 461–478.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carríón, J. S., Munuera, M., Navarro, C., Burjachs, F., Dupré, M., & Walker, M. J. (1999). The palaeological potential of pollen records in caves: The case of Mediterranean Spain. Quaternary Science Reviews, 18, 1061–1071.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Casparie, W. A., & Groenman-Van Waateringe, W. (1980). Palynological analysis of Dutch barrows. Palaeohistoria, 22, 7–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doorenbosch, M. (2013). Ancestral heaths. Leiden: Sidestone Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Faegri, K., & Iversen, J. (1989). Fourth edition by K. Faegri, P. E. Kaland, & K. Krzywinski, Textbook of pollen analysis. Chichester; New York, NY; Brisbane, QLD; Toronto, ON; Singapore: John Wiley and Sons. 328 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiacconi, M., & Hunt, C. O. (2015). Pollen taphonomy at Shanidar Cave (Kurdish Iraq); an initial evaluation. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 223, 87–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimm, E. C. (2015). Tilia and Tiliagraph 2.0.41. Retrieved July 2, 2019, from https://www.tiliait.com/download/.

  • Groenman-Van Waateringe, W. (1988). Palynology of plaggen soils on the Veluwe, Central Netherlands. In W. Groenman-van Waateringe & M. Robinson (Eds.), Man made soils. BAR international series 410 (pp. 55–65). Oxford: BAR.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Groenman-Van Waateringe, W. (1991). Where did the man from the Hauslabjoch live? Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz, 38, 1–7.

    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, 541–558.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heim, J. (1970). Les relations entre les spectres polliniques récents et la végétation actuelle en Europe occidentale. Louvain: Université de Louvain.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hooghiemstra, H., & Van Geel, B. (1998). World list of Quaternary pollen and spore atlases. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 104, 157–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iversen, J. (1944). Viscum, Hedera and Ilex as climate indicators. Geologiska Föreningen i Stockholm Förhandlingar, 66, 463–483.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaal, J., Criado-Boado, F., Costa-Casais, M., López-Sáez, J. A., López-Merino, L., Mighall, T., Carrión, Y., Silva Sánchez, N., & Martínez Cortizas, A. (2013). Prehistoric land use at an archaeological hot-spot (the rock art park of Campo Lameiro, NW Spain) inferred from charcoal, synanthropic pollen and non-pollen palynomorph proxies. Journal of Archaeological Science, 40, 1518–1527.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kappen, L., & Straka, H. (1988). Pollen and spores transport into the Antarctic. Polar Biology, 8, 173–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kitaba, I., & Nakagawa, T. (2017). Black ceramic spheres as marker grains for microfossil analyses, with improved chemical, physical, and optical properties. Quaternary International, 455, 166–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lagerheim, G. (1902). Metoder för pollen undersöknung. Botaniska Notiser, 1902, 75–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Middleton, R., & Bunting, M. J. (2004). Mosaic v1.1: Landscape scenario creation software for simulation of pollen dispersal and deposition. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 132, 61–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, P. D., Webb, J. A., & Collinson, M. E. (1991). Pollen analysis (2nd ed.). London; Edinburgh; Boston, MA; Melbourne, VIC; Paris, Berlin, Vienna: Blackwell. 216 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paez, M. M., & Prieto, A. R. (1993). Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction by pollen analysis from loess sequences of the southeast of Buenos Aires (Argentina). Quaternary International, 17, 21–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phuphumirat, W., Zetter, R., Hofmann, C.-C., & Ferguson, D. K. (2015). Pollen degradation in mangrove sediments: A short-term experiment. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 221, 106–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rösch, M. (1999). Evaluation of honey residues from Iron Age hill-top sites in south-western Germany: Implications for local and regional land use and vegetation dynamics. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 8, 105–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rösch, M. (2005). Pollen analysis of the contents of excavated vessels, direct archaeobotanical evidence of beverages. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 14, 179–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rousseau, D.-D., Gerasimenko, N., Matviischina, Z., & Kukla, G. (2001). Late Pleistocene environments of the central Ukraine. Quaternary Research, 56, 349–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rull, V., Cañellas-Boltá, N., Sáez, A., Margalof, O., Bao, R., Pla-Rabes, S., Valero-Garcés, B., & Giralt, S. (2013). Challenging Easter Island’s collapse: The need for interdisciplinary synenergies. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 1, 2–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott, J. (1987). Pollen analysis of hyaena coprolites and sediments from Equus Cave, Taung, southern Kalahari (South Africa). Quaternary Research, 28, 144–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stockmarr, J. (1971). Tablets with spores used in absolute pollen analysis. Pollen et Spores, 13, 614–621.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sugita, S., Gaillard, M.-J., & Broström, A. (1999). Landscape openness and pollen records: A simulation approach. The Holocene, 9, 409–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tang, Z., Du, S., & Liu, F. (2017). Late Pleistocene changes in vegetation and the associated human activity at Beiyao Site, Central China. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 244, 107–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ukraintseva, V. V., & Sokolov, V. T. (2003). Pollen analysis of snow samples from the North Pole region. Polar Geography, 27, 268–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van der Hammen, T. (1949). De Allerød-oscillatie in Nederland, pollenanalytisch onderzoek van een laatglaciale meerafzetting in Drente, I en II. Koninklijke Nederlandse Academie van Wetenschappen Proceedings, 52, 69–75. 169–176.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vermeeren, C., & Kuijper, W. (1993). Pollen from coprolites and recent droppings: Useful for reconstructing vegetations and determining the season of consumption? Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia, 26, 213–220.

    Google Scholar 

  • Von Post, L. (1916). Omskogsträdpollen i sydsvenska torvmosslagerföljder. Geologiska Föreningen i Stockholm Förhandlingar, 38, 384–390.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zagwijn, W. H. (1994). Reconstruction of climate change during the Holocene in western and central Europe based on pollen records of indicator species. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 3, 65–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Corrie Bakels

Authors
  1. Corrie Bakels
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Corrie Bakels .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. HARVEST Project, Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Amanda G. Henry

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Bakels, C. (2020). Pollen and Archaeology. In: Henry, A.G. (eds) Handbook for the Analysis of Micro-Particles in Archaeological Samples. Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42622-4_9

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42622-4_9

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-42621-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-42622-4

  • eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation