Pollen stratigraphy
Definition
The analysis of pollen assemblages at different depth horizons within the grave fill to establish a seasonal or annual chronology. A pollen type that is only dispersed at a known season, found at a particular depth, places a botanical constraint on the deposition date of that layer.
- Method
- Analysis of pollen assemblages at different depths in soil or grave fill to reveal timing and disturbance.
- Key principle
- Seasonal pollen types act as botanical markers; their presence at a depth constrains the deposition date of that layer.
- Disturbance indicator
- Disruption of normal vertical pollen sequence signals human activity or grave tampering.
Common questions
How does pollen help estimate when a body was buried?+
Pollen types have known seasonal distributions. Finding a species that only disperses in spring, for example, at a specific depth in the grave fill helps place that layer to a particular season. This gives investigators a botanical constraint on when material was deposited.
What does disrupted pollen stratigraphy tell you?+
Normal soil shows a vertical sequence of pollen that changes gradually as vegetation and land use shift over time. If that sequence is disrupted or scrambled, it signals human disturbance, grave tampering, or unusual depositional events.
Related terms
- Accumulated degree days (ADD)
- The sum of daily mean temperatures above a threshold (usually 0 °C) over a period of interest. Used as a measure of...
- Burial interval
- The elapsed time between placement of the body in the ground and the time of recovery. Distinct from the post-mortem interval (time...
- Grave-fill inversion
- The mixing or reversal of pollen stratigraphy caused by digging and backfilling a clandestine grave. Older, deeper pollen types brought to the...
- Minimum date evidence
- Artefacts (coins, currency notes, dated packaging, mobile phones) recovered from a burial whose manufacture date establishes that burial cannot have occurred before...
- PFIDAC
- Post-mortem Forensic Index of Decomposition and Alteration in Context: a UK-developed scoring protocol that standardises the description of decomposition stages in buried...
- Pollen assemblage
- The full suite of pollen and spore taxa found in a sample, expressed as counts or percentages. Each assemblage reflects the vegetation...
- Provenance
- In ceramic petrology, the geographic area from which the raw materials (clay and temper) were sourced; distinct from production place (where the...
- Seasonal marker
- A pollen type with a well-defined flowering season, used to estimate the time of year at which a person or object was...
- Soil temperature logging
- Placement of calibrated temperature dataloggers at the grave depth during excavation, allowing the actual thermal history of the burial environment to be...
- Transfer assemblage
- The pollen recovered from clothing, a vehicle, or a body that reflects the environments the item or person has been in through...
Explained in these topics
- Burial Interval EstimationThe analysis of pollen assemblages at different depth horizons within the grave fill to establish a seasonal or annual chronology. A pollen type that is only d...
- Pollen as Trace and Provenance EvidenceThe vertical sequence of pollen assemblages through a soil or sediment profile, reflecting changes in vegetation and land use over time. Disruption of normal s...