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Archaeological Pollen Studies of the Colorado Plateau

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

James Schoenwetter
James Schoenwetter*
Affiliation:
Arizona State UniversityTempe, Arizona
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Abstract

The proposition is advanced that archaeologists are not justified in considering pollen analysis a technique of investigation restricted to the biological or earth scientist. This is shown not to be true in theory because of the nature of the technique itself. Comparison of pollen studies of samples from archaeological proveniences on the Colorado Plateau serves to illustrate the fact that research designs in pollen analysis do actually allow collection of cultural data and directly serve the purposes of cultural reconstruction. The comparison also serves to summarize the nature of the archaeological and nonarchaeological pollen research carried on to date in this region. A second portion of the paper synthesizes much of the available information for the presentation of a reconstruction of effective moisture variation on the Colorado Plateau over the past 1,500 years. This reconstruction was designed to serve the purposes of archaeological chronology and cultural ecology in the region. It also illustrates the flexibility of pollen analytic research as a technique of archaeology.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , January 1970 , pp. 35 - 48
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1970

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