An Analysis of Macrobotanical and Pollen Remains from Several Contexts Associated with the Manchester Boarding House

Six bulk soil samples and one sample suitable for palynological analysis were submitted to the Fiske Center from a turn-of-the-century tenement boarding house yard in Manchester, New Hampshire. The six soil samples were submitted as pairs of samples taken from both 19th and 20th-century strata in order to examine change in landscape use over time. Macrobotanical analysis found high levels of weedy and ruderal plants in 19th-century context, as well as evidence of low-growing wild fruits such as blueberries, raspberries, and elderberries. Samples from the 20th-century suggested a landscape more carefully managed by humans, while the single pollen sample analyzed complemented this interpretation.