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

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).