POLLEN ANALYSIS OF CANAL TRAVERTINE, TEHUACAN VALLEY, MEXICO

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.