POLLEN AND PHYTOLITH ANALYSIS OF SIX SOIL SAMPLES FROM FLOWER GARDENS ASSOCIATED WITH GEORGE WASHINGTON’S PLANTATION AT MOUNT VERNON, VIRGINIA

Four samples of soil from eighteenth century flower gardens associated with Mount
Vernon, George Washington’s plantation home, were submitted for pollen and phytolith
analysis. Two of the samples of soil are derived from a garden bed dating prior to the 1780's.
The other two samples of soil are from a rectangular-shaped garden that dates slightly later
than the garden mentioned previously to sometime during the 1780's to the 1790's. Analysis of
the four samples of soil was conducted to identify the types of decorative and subsistencerelated
plants grown in the garden by identifying pollen and phytoliths present.

四份与乔治·华盛顿种植园故居弗农山庄（Mount Vernon）相关的18世纪花园土壤样本，被提交用于开展花粉（pollen）与植硅体（phytolith）分析。其中两份土壤样本取自1780年代之前的花床；另外两份样本来自略晚于前述花床的矩形花园，其年代可追溯至1780年代至1790年代之间。本次分析通过检测样本中留存的花粉与植硅体，以鉴定该花园中曾种植的观赏类与生计相关类植物的种类。