Description
Pollen grains are an extremely durable organic material providing scientists with an easy way to identify vegetation from the past. This study is based off a core sample taken from the plaster lining of a Bronze Age water channel in the City of David, Jerusalem that was fed by the Gihon Spring. The pollen from the hills surrounding the City of David accumulated in the spring and was fed into the water channel. The pollen from the core sample was analyzed to gain knowledge of the environmental plants of Jerusalem during the late Bronze Age. The pollen was floated free from the matrix by placing it in a solution of Zinc Chloride after a chemical separation was performed to loosen the pollen from the plaster sample. The pollen was extracted, placed in a glycerol medium and mounted on individual slides. A statistically standard 200-grain count was performed for the sample using a standard biological scope and identification of pollen was based upon a digital reference collection. The pollen count resulted in 38.5% hydrophytes (15% Salix sp., 10.5% Scirpus sp., 9.5% Cyperus sp.), 37% cultivars (12.5% Grains, 9% Olea sp., 8% Allium sp.), 15% arboreal (7.5% Quercus sp., 6.5% Myrtus sp.) and 9.5% indicator species. The pollen count from the sample provides evidence that the environment during the Bronze Age was disturbed by humans through the cultivation of crops and the footpaths associated with the cultivation.
Fossil Pollen Evidence of Bronze Age Vegetation in Jerusalem, Israel
Pollen grains are an extremely durable organic material providing scientists with an easy way to identify vegetation from the past. This study is based off a core sample taken from the plaster lining of a Bronze Age water channel in the City of David, Jerusalem that was fed by the Gihon Spring. The pollen from the hills surrounding the City of David accumulated in the spring and was fed into the water channel. The pollen from the core sample was analyzed to gain knowledge of the environmental plants of Jerusalem during the late Bronze Age. The pollen was floated free from the matrix by placing it in a solution of Zinc Chloride after a chemical separation was performed to loosen the pollen from the plaster sample. The pollen was extracted, placed in a glycerol medium and mounted on individual slides. A statistically standard 200-grain count was performed for the sample using a standard biological scope and identification of pollen was based upon a digital reference collection. The pollen count resulted in 38.5% hydrophytes (15% Salix sp., 10.5% Scirpus sp., 9.5% Cyperus sp.), 37% cultivars (12.5% Grains, 9% Olea sp., 8% Allium sp.), 15% arboreal (7.5% Quercus sp., 6.5% Myrtus sp.) and 9.5% indicator species. The pollen count from the sample provides evidence that the environment during the Bronze Age was disturbed by humans through the cultivation of crops and the footpaths associated with the cultivation.