Tobacco pollen: archaeological and forensic applications (original) (raw)
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Palynology and archaeological inference: bridging the gap between pollen washes and past behavior
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2008
Credible interpretation of pollen recovered from archaeological sites hinges upon understanding how pollen becomes deposited by both the environment and human behavior. The environmental role has been studied to some extent, but how the activities of people have formed the pollen assemblages at archaeological sites is usually just assumed rather than considered explicitly. Moreover, the complexity involved in the interaction between human behavior and pollen ecology is seldom considered. An archaeological case study of grinding tool pollen washes highlights the ambiguities of standard practice because the results confound common assumptions about pollen washes. A series of experimental seed and grinding tool washes designed to test the relationships between the processing of seeds and the deposition of pollen help explain why, for most situations, artifact pollen washes do not provide direct or even faithful records of plant processing. These results highlight the need for further experimental research with pollen so that we are warranted in making behavioral inferences from palynology. This conclusion is easily extended to other microbotanical data classes that archaeologists regularly employ.
Pollen in Forensic Palynology: An Exploration into a Crime Solving Tool
International Journal of Environment, Agriculture and Biotechnology, 2022
Palynology is the study of pollen grain and spores. The term forensic when inserted into the picture marks the usage of pollen into a crime-solving and suspect finding tool. Pollen grain has an outer layer made up of sporopollenin which gives high durability and resistance due to which pollen can survive at adverse and extreme conditions. The samples collected from the crime scene are analysed, studied and investigated along with the samples obtained from the suspects. A relation is derived which acts as evidence during the judicial custody. Pollen analysis is highly useful if a crime that has happened long back, and now needs to be opened up. Advancement of this technique in India is still awaited.
What can pollen grains from the Terracotta Army tell us?
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2007
Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) cultivation and utilization is an ancient practice to human civilization. There are some controversies on the origin and subsequent spread of this species. Ancient plant DNA has proven to be a powerful tool to solve phylogenetic problems. In this study, ancient DNA was extracted from an archaeological specimen of Cannabis sativa associated with archaeological human remains from China. Ribosomal and Cannabis specific chloroplast DNA regions were PCR amplified. Sequencing of a species-specific region and subsequent comparison with published sequences were performed. Successful amplification, sequencing and sequence comparison with published data suggested the presence of hemp specific DNA in the archeological specimen. The role of Humulus japonicus Sieb. et Zucc. in the evolution of Cannabis is also indicated. The identification of ancient DNA of 2500 years old C. sativa sample showed that C. sativa races might have been introduced into China from the European-Siberian center of diversity.
Journal of Biological Research - Bollettino della Società Italiana di Biologia Sperimentale, 2005
Human embalming was practiced widely by the Egyptians using resins extracted from shrubs, trees, or by the use of propolis – also known as bee’s glue. These resins that formed from terpenic derivates, retain a variety of remains: the epidermis of plants, grains of sand, pieces of coal, and grains of pollen.Pollen analyses were made on a mummy belonging to the Egyptian collection of the Museu Nacional: the “Singer of the Temple of Amon”, dated around 750 AD. This is a rare mummy from the Roman period because the limbs were buried separate from the body. We can find only seven mummies buried in this way in the European collections. Our results expand our knowledge about the use of plants which were given as offering or presented at the moment of burial, as indicated by pollen grains through the time.
Hippos-Sussita of the Decapolis, The First Twelve Seasons of Excavations, 2018
My work in relation to pollen analysis at Hippos commenced in September 2009. Archaeological plasters are ideal repositories of ancient pollen, whether those plasters appear within the structures of Bethsaida, Gamla, Hippos or in Jerusalem (Geyer forthcoming). Hippos is a "gold mine" when it comes to such plasters from archaeological contexts. The plasters of Hippos, as this chapter will relate, are full of recoverable fossil pollen, and are and will continue to be a ready resource for present and future pollen data relating to historical anthropogenic activity at the site.
The prehistory of tobacco (Nicotiana spp.) in the New World has long interested archaeologists, anthropologists, and geographers. Nicotiana rustica (Aztec tobacco), the most widespread tobacco species in prehistoric eastern North America, is an Andean hybrid that was transported to Central America and Mexico by at least 7000 cal yr BP, and reached the Mississippi Valley between 4000 and 3000 cal yr BP. Because Native Americans also smoked other plant materials, archaeological pipes do not necessarily document tobacco use. Additional evidence comes from analyses of pollen and other components in unburned pipe residues, or dottle. Here we describe our efforts to build upon previous tobacco research by performing pollen and chemical analyses of dottle in 14 pipes from archaeological sites in Tennessee. Dottle samples were prepared for pollen analysis using conventional techniques and compared to samples prepared from commercially available tobacco. Pollen results together with initial analyses of chemical signatures using GC/MS positively identified the use of tobacco in four of the 14 pipes. These results contribute to ongoing investigations of the transmission, use, and customs surrounding tobacco and the smoking culture in eastern North America.