POLLEN ANALYSIS OF CONSTRUCTION DEPOSITS AT THE GOVERNOR'S PALACE, WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA

Pollen analysis in historical archaeology is usually focused on the nature
of occupation-period groundcover and the land-use practices of site inhabitants.
Palynology has also proven valuable in other kinds of historical studies. In an
investigation of 19th-and early 20th-century structures in Tucson, Arizona,
O'Rourke (1983) demonstrated that the pollen spectra of adobe bricks used the
portions of a building that were constructed at separate times differ
significantly from each other and that bricks used in repairs can be
distinguished from those of the original construction by their pollen content.
This study, which makes it possible to recognize construction phases in adobe
structures, was based on the premise that pollen production and deposition varies
across space and through time and that the pollen spectra of earth mined at
different times and places will, therefore, be different. This premise should
also apply to earth used in the construction of other kinds of structures,
provided that the deposits are sealed by the construction process and protected
from contamination by the subsequent pollen rain.