Pollen Record Formation Processes at the Isles of Shoals: Botanical Records of Human Behavior Gerald K

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Northeast Historical Archaeology

Volume 18 Article 6

1989 Pollen Record Formation Processes at the Isles of Shoals: Botanical Records of Human Behavior Gerald K. Kelso

Faith Harrington

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Recommended Citation Kelso, Gerald K. and Harrington, Faith (1989) "Pollen Record Formation Processes at the Isles of Shoals: Botanical Records of Human Behavior," Northeast Historical Archaeology: Vol. 18 18, Article 6. https://doi.org/10.22191/neha/vol18/iss1/6 Available at: http://orb.binghamton.edu/neha/vol18/iss1/6

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Cover Page Footnote Many individuals have contributed to this research effort. We particularly wish to thank Roger Larochelle for the use of his maps, Leslie Mead for drafting support, and Elisa McClennan for photgraphing the illustrations. Funding for the ME 226-62 pollen study was provided by the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, and laboratory space was provided by the Boston Univeristy Department of Archaeology. Pollen laboratory equipment was procured under National Science Foundation grant No. BNS-7924470 to Boston University.

This article is available in Northeast Historical Archaeology: http://orb.binghamton.edu/neha/vol18/iss1/6 70 Pollen Record at Isles of Shoals/Kelso and Harrington

POLLEN RECORD FORMATION PROCESSES AT THE ISLES OF SHOALS: BOTANICAL RECORDS OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR

Gerald K. Kelso and Faith Harrington

Exploratory pollen analysis on Appledore Island at the Isles of Shoals, a group of nine islands located approx imately eight miles off the coast of southern Maine and New Hampshire, indicates that pollen preservation is ex cellmt in exposed island soil deposits in the temperate zone and that pollen percolation into deposits from the surface preserves the records of natural and cultural events where deep cultural deposits have not developed. ·The Appledore pollen spectra registered the establishmmt of the resort hotel industry on the island in the mid- 19th_-century, the virtual abandonment of the island after a major fire in 1914, and the chestnut blight of ca. 1925 on the mainland. The high rate of pollen percolation, ca. 1 em in 4.2 years, in the loose, organic soils and the shallow deposits on the island limit the palynological land-use record in exposed soils to ca. 175 years. Because pollen is protected from leaching by large flat stones, evidence for 17th-, 18th-, and early 19th-century land use should be recovered by seriating pollen profiles taken from under surface-/aid foundation stones and from u1rder foundation stones cast down during dismantling of structures.

L'analyse exploratoire de pollens provenant de /'fie Appledore, /'une des neuf qui constituent /es Isles of Shoals a que/que huit milles au large de Ia cote meridionale du Maine et du New Hampsire, demontre /'excellent etat de conservation des pollens dans /es sols exposes de Ia zone temperee. On peut croire que leur infiltration a partir de Ia surface a perm is de conserver /es temoins d' evenements naturels et culture/s meme Ia orl les accumu lations anthropiques sont demeurees peu profondes. Le spectre pollinique de l'fle Appledore reflete l'establishement d'une industrie hoteliere au milieu de XIXe siecle, /'abandon presque complet de /'fie suite a un incendie majeur en 1914 et Ia maladie du chfitaigne qui sevit sur Ia terre ferme vers 1925. Le taux eleve de percolation (approximativement 1 em par 4.2 ans) da11s les sols meubles et organiques et Ia faible epaisseur de ces derniers /imitent, pour /es sols exposes, /e temoignage palynologique ii l'utilisatimt des lieux au cours des 175 derniernes annees. Toutefois, en raison de Ia protection accordee aux pollens qui se frau vent sous les larges pierres, /'utilisation du site au cours du XVIle, du XVll/e et au debut du X!Xe siecle pourrait etre revelee par /aseriation des profiles de pollens qui se trouvent sous les picrres de fondation posees au sol ou encore sous celles y aymzt ete jetees Iars du demantelement de constmctions mzciennes.

Introduction treats on the mainland more accessible by mo torcar. In 1914 a fire destroyed most of the This article reports the results of an ex buildings, including a major hotel, on ploratory pollen study of soil samples recov Appledore and ended intensive occupation of ered from the alleged William Pepperrell site the island (Bardwell 1989: 113). Today the (ME 226-62) on Appledore at the Isles of Shoals Marine Laboratory operates a marine Shoals, an archipelago located approximately field station on Appledore Island, and the Star eight miles south of Portsmouth, New Island Corporation hosts religious conferences Hampshire, in the Atlantic Ocean (FIG. 1A). throughout the summer on nearby Star Island. This group of nine islands was occupied by 1623 on a seasonal basis to exploit the nearby cod fishing grounds and was inhabited year-round by the 1640s. The fishing here continued to be Archaeological Research at the Isles of viable until the first few decades of the 19th Shoals century. By the 1850s, the building of hotels on Archaeological investigations at the Isles the two largest islands of Appledore and Star of Shoals have been conducted as part of a long ushered in the resort era and saw a general de term interdisciplinary research project by cline in the fishing industry. The resorts pros Harrington since 1986 (Harrington 1987, 1988, pered until after the 1890s when competition 1989, 1990, 1992; Harrington and Kenyon 1987). stiffened as a result of the building of new re- These investigations indicated that cultural Northeast Historical ArchaeologyfVol. 18, 1989 71

DUCK ISLAND ~

APPLEDORE ISLAND ISLES OF SHOALS N KITTERY, ME ·

Shown at mean low water

N ,ME 226-62 0 CRYSTAL LAKE ..

ISLES OF SHOALS ,-- 0 200 400 o--<=-=:1--==== .5 1 mile ' 1~0· ao~ sOo · A ~s

ME 226-62

WILLIAM PEPPERELL FOUNDATION

Scale 1:100 It

4 5 meters! I i I I ...,_ .. _____ ---- ···- ...... _, _____[ 1\t ! ..... ~------

Figure L Location of the Isles of Shoals (A), Appledore Island (B), and the sampled locus at the William Pepperrell house (C). 72 Pollen Record at Isles of Shoals/Kelso and Harrington

resources at the Shoals are extensive, intact this is only one of several avenues being ex and date from as early as the colonial period. plored to gain a greater understanding of the During the 1988 and 1990 field seasons on cultural uses of plants at the Shoals, the success Appledore Island, teams of participants from or failure of certain crops, and the reconstruc Earthwatch, Boston University, and the tion of the historic environment. University of Southern Maine inventoried 51 A feasibility study was performed in 1989 historical sites for the Maine Historic to determine the presence or absence of phy Preservation Commission, one of the continuing toliths at the Pepperrell site. Dr. Lawrence project sponsors. Subsurface testing has been Kaplan of the University of Massachusetts at conducted at three stone foundation sites on the Boston reported the presence of phytoliths in southwest end of Appledore. All three struc deeply stratified deposits at the Pepperrell tures proved to be domestic sites that were oc site (personal communication, 1989). These cupied initially in the second or third quarters samples contained no evidence for maize, beans of the 17th century and abandoned prior to, or nor squash, but the presence of phytoliths deep during, the Revolutionary War Period. The ar in the profile is encouraging. Phytolith analy chaeological evidence thus corroborates sec sis will remain an integral part of interdisci ondary historical sources that suggest that the plinary research at the Shoals. islands were evacuated by the British during Macrofloral remains are also being studied the Revolutionary War, partly for the protec at the Shoals. Approximately 200 soil samples tion of the Shoalers and partly because the representing soils from all strata, levels, and British were unsure of their loyalty (Rutledge zones encountered during excavations at the 1971: 44). Pepperrell site, were processed in a flotation Site ME 226-62 is alleged to have been the tank. Preliminary results indicate excellent re home of William Pepperrell, father of the vic covery of seeds, nuts, pits, and seed casings (as tor at Louisbourg, William Pepperrell, Jr. The well as numerous small fish and bird bones, gun site became the focus of intensive excavation shot, sewing pins, and even a human baby during the 1990 season, after the discovery of a tooth). Analysis is in process. rich kitchen midden deposit that provided our The present flora of Appledore Island was first detailed look at material life at the Isles surveyed during 1988 to determine species com of Shoals in the last decades of the 17th cen position, dates for species introduction and cul tury and the first few decades of the 18th cen tural uses of plants (Sweeney 1988). tury (FIGS. 1B, C). The archaeological record of Contemporary plant materials (including the site begins about 1675, and the terminus post seeds) were collected and preserved as part of a quem for site abandonment is approximately comparative collection for macrofloral analy 1760, based on the presence of several types of sis. Dendrochronological cores were taken from English white salt-glazed stonewares and the apple trees in the vicinity of the three colonial absence of later creamwares and pearlwares. sites on the southwest end of Appledore in 1990. There is no evidence of any later occupation at All of the apple trees are growing within en the Pepperrell site. Eighteenth-century mate closed stone walls that may represent early rials were recovered within 3 em of the surface gardens or orchards. The tree rings, however, in some units and a scattering of 19th- and 20th indicated that none of the trees were older than century artifacts was found on the surface. approximately 70 years. It is possible that ap ple trees were planted early in the island's his tory and that the extant trees are the result of Subsistence and the Environment at natural revegetative processes. the Isles of Shoals Since many major research questions focus on Historical Landscape Analysis: The the subsistence base of the early fishing com munity at the Shoals, several different ap Pollen Record proaches are being employed to study the plant Historical landscape analysis is a critical materials on these sites. The topic of this pa element in any archaeological investigation of per is pollen analysis at the Pepperrell site, but the Euroamerican era. Each generation has Northeast Historical Archaeology/Vo/. 18, 1989 73

North Face, N2W6

ca.1760~ ca.1925-----> ca.1912 _____ ~

ca.1849 ____ -~ ca.1720~ ca.1812 _____ ~ ca.1675 ~

- Str.atum I (Samples 1-7a) Black silty sand with ash.(7.5YR2/0)

• Stratum II (Samples 8-11) Black sandy loam with gravel. (7.5YR2/0).

Stratum Ill (Samples 12-14). Dark grayish brown gravel with clay. (10YR4/2).

~ Bedrock

Figure 2. Stratigraphy, sample location, and chronometric dates, north wall of excavation unit N2W6, Pepperrell Site (ME 226-62).

modified its environment characteristically, served in this unique island environment and and the ways in which the environments were whether the archaeological and pollen records modified can reveal much about economics, life could be correlated. There were, consequently, styles, and values of the period. Structures and three objectives to this exploratory pollen gross geographical features may remain from study on Appledore: particular historical periods, but the accompa nying flora, a few specimens of long-lived taxa 1) to ascertain whether pollen preservation excepted, has been modified beyond recognition at the Isles of Shoals is adequate to permit by the activities of succeeding generations and meaningful interpretation of the pollen by natural processes of vegetational succession. spectra; Paleobotanical research methods must be em 2) to ascertain whether land-use data may ployed in concert with archival and archaeo be recovered by pollen analysis on logical studies to effectively reconstruct the Appledore Island; and floral elements of historic environments. The majority of archaeologists and paly 3) to ascertain the age of the pollen record nologists consider pollen to be too poorly pre that may be recovered from exposed pro served in most temperate zone soils to warrant files on the island. analysis (King, Klipple, and Duffield 1975), and it has been demonstrated that pollen is moved post-depositionally by natural processes (Dimbleby 1985). The rate of pollen movement Methods and degradation varies with the nature of the A pollen column of 14 contiguous 3-cm sam matrix and changing human activities (Kelso ples (FIG. 2) was collected from the north wall 1991: 5). Before pollen analysis could be ap of excavation unit N2W6 adjacent to the foun plied to questions about the 17th- and 18th-cen dation of the structure (FIG. 1C). Three natural tury fishing communities on Appledore, it was stratigraphic deposits were evident in this ex necessary to determine whether pollen was pre- cavation unit (FIG. 2). Stratum I (samples 1-?a) 74 Pollen Record at Isles of Shoals/Kelso and Harri11gtmz

~:· .. ------"'"· ---.... -~--=~ &o7:oc~ c.

b!!@ SLJ a [~.. 'fta.,

~ .,6 Or~ ~ 111 .o,,e,

!!.. Northeast Historical Archaeology/Val. 18, 1989 75

Table 1. Latin and vernacular names of plants discussed in the text.

Arboreal Non-Arboreal Vernacular- Latin Vernacular - Latin

Pine- Pinus Grass - Gramineae Hemlock- Tsuga European cereal grass - Cerealia Spruce - Picea Goosefoot family - Chenopodiaceae Oak - Quercus Beech - Fagus Ragweed family - Compositae Chestnut - Castanea Mugwort - Artemisia Birch - Betula Ragweed-type: Ambrosia-type Alder- Alnus (wind-pollinated Compositae) Hazel - Cary/us Aster I sunflower I goldenrod-type: Hornbeam - Ostrya Aster-type (insect-pollinated Compositae) Blue beech - Carpinus Dandelion-type Compositae: Hickory - Carya Liguliflorae Walnut - Juglans Mustard Family - Cruciferae Willow- Salix Parsley family - Umbelliferae Sweet gale- Myrica Pea family - Leguminoseae Poplar I cottenwood - Populus Sheep-sorrel-type: Rumex acetosella - type Ash- Fraxinus Dock-type: Rumex mexicanus-type Holly -llex Rose family - Rosaceae Black locust - Robinia Nightshade family - Solanacea~ Elm- Ulmus Groundcherry-type: Physalis-type Tree-of-heaven - Ailanthus Meadow rue - Talictrum Bluebell Family - Campanulaceae Hemp family - Cannabinaceae Touch-Me-Not family- Balsaminaceae Honeysuckle family - Caprifoliaceae Elderberry-type: Sambucus-type Lance-leaved plantain-type: Plantago lazzceolata-type Broad-leaved plantain-type: Plantago major-type Violet - Viola Heath family - Ericaceae Sedge family - Cyperaceae

consisted of black silty sand with ash (7.5YR dates of ca. 1675 to i720 are suggested by pipe 2/0) and Stratum II (samples 8-11) consisted of fragments and red wares and are corroborated by a black sandy loam with gravel (7.5YR 2/0). archival sources. Pollen sample 2 (-3 to -6 em) Stratum I and Stratum II contained diagnostic was inadvertently not collected and is not rep artifacts dating to ca. 1720-1760, based on the resented on the pollen diagram. The deepest presence of English white salt-glazed 1.5 em of sample 7 was originally thought to be stonewares, Astbury wares, Nottingham a feature and was collected as a separate sam stonewares, Iberian wares, and mottled wares. ple, 7a. The total interval of samples 7 and 7a Although some of these ceramic types post is3cm. date 1760, the absence of creamwares and Mehringer's (1967) mechanical/ chemical pearlwares suggests a date prior to about 1770. pollen extraction method was employed, but Stratum III (samples 12-14), on the other hand was modified by eliminating the HN03 step contained no imported ceramics. Stratum III and reducing the NaOH strength to 1% to mini" 76 Pollen Record at Isles of 5/wals/Kclso a11d Harrir1glo11 mize oxidization of the already degraded and pollen contribution of the parent taxon or statis fragile pollen characteristic of the deeper por tical response to a change in some other pollen tion of temperate zone soil profiles. Pollen type within the fixed numerical sum upon residues were mounted in glycerol for viewing. which the percentages are based. Counting was done at 430¥, with problematical Plants are most frequently encountered un pollen grains examined under oil immersion at der English names in historical documentary 970¥. Four hundred pollen grains were tabu sources; to maintain perspective for historical lated per sample. The greatest diameter of all archaeologists, the common New England intact grass pollen grains in all samples was names for plant taxa are employed in both the measured in microns. text and the diagrams. A conversion table Five lycopodium tablets containing 11,300 (TAB. 1) of Latin and vernacular names is pro +I- 400 spores were added to each sample to vided. permit computation of pollen concentrations per gram of sample with Benninghoff's (1962) ex otic pollen addition method. Pollen concentra Results tion figures were not calculated for individual The results of pollen analysis at the taxa, because these would not be meaningful William Pepperrell House Site are presented where pollen has moved post-depositionally in in Figure 3. Pollen preservation was very good soil deposits. throughout the profile, and pollen concentra All pollen grains too degraded to be identi tions were high at the bottom of the profile fied were tabulated to provide further control relative to most pollen sequences from dry soil over corrosion factors. These unidentifiable in New England (Kelso, Mrozowski, and Fisher pollen grains were not incorporated in any sum 1987: figures 6-2, 6-3, 6-4; Kelso et al. 1989: fig from which the frequencies of other types were ures 12-9, 12-10; Kelso 1989: figure B-4). The computed, but the data for this pollen group, as presence of a few grains of European cereal a percentage of total identifiable and unidenti pollen in the profile indicates that the upper fiable pollen, are presented for each profile. half of the deposit, at least, post-dates Corroded oak pollen grains, a prominent type European colonization of the island. Four that retains its identity while readily degrad trends are evident among the pollen spectra of ing (van Zeist 1967: 49), were also tabulated. this diagram. One of these trends reflects natu The terms "corroded" and "degraded" are used ral post-deposition pollen record formation pro interchangeably and refer to any kind of pollen cesses in the deposit at the site. A second trend deterioration other than tearing. They are not registers the effect of an alien pathogen on intended as references to the specific classes of mainland vegetation, while the third trend re deterioration defined under these terms by flects land-use patterns on the mainland. The Cushing (1964) and Havinga (1984). fourth trend records vegetation response to Percentages based on two kinds of sums are changes in local land use. presented in the pollen diagram (FIG. 3). The open line bars are based on relative frequencies (percentages) computed from separate sums for Pollen Record Formation Processes arboreal and non-arboreal pollen types, while the solid colored portion of the diagram re The most basic trend in the Pepperrell Site flects percentages computed from the total sum pollen spectrum is the steady decline in pollen of all pollen types (AP, NAP, and undetermined) concentrations·, and the regular increase in the present. This separation serves to differentiate quantities of pollen that was too degraded to regional and local pollen sources to some extent recognize and corroded oak pollen from the top and makes it possible to recognize the statisti of the profile to the bottom. These patterns are cal distortions that the contributions of pollen the product of normal pollen record formation types reflecting different phenomena induce in processes. Pollen is annually deposited on the each other. By comparing the two kinds of sums surface of the ground. This pollen is carried for the same pollen type it is often possible to down into the profile by percolating rainwater. determine whether a shift in the representa This percolation produces a pattern in which tion of the type records real change in the most of the oldest pollen is at the bottom, the Northeast Historical Archaeology/Vol. 18, 1989 77

Percent of total pollen 20 40 60 80 100.. majority of the intermediate age pollen grains .

are in the middle of the profile, and most of the % __ Recent ' ' recent pollen grains are at the top (Dimbleby .w ____ Intermediate a \ 'j '· ...... "' ) 1985: 5). Dimbleby's (1985: figure 3) schematic _ ·-· Ancient .~ ______,.-..... diagram of this distribution is presented in I '\ Figure4A. As pollen moves downward, it is attacked THEORETICAL DISTRIBUTION IN SOIL OF and progressively destroyed by aerobic fungi POLLENS OF DIFFERENT AGES (Goldstein 1960) and by free oxygen in the per (alter Oimbleby 1985) colating groundwater (Tschudy 1969). This Pollen concentration Percent ol pollen per gram of matriK that appears degraded produces patterns of pollen concentration and sooo 4000 2000 o o 20 40 so eo too'll. degradation in which the highest pollen con centrations are located near the surface and the largest proportion of pollen grains that are too degraded to recognize are situated near the bot tom of the profile. A schematic of this sequence is presented in Figure 4B. Very similar pollen concentration and pollen degradation patterns have been seen in 15 profiles from 10 THEORETICAL POLLEN CONCENTRA liON AND OEGRADA TION IN A SOIL PROFILE Euroamerican period archaeological sites in Figure 4. Theoretical distributions of the Northeastern United States (Kelso, Stone, percolated pollen, pollen concentrations, and Karish 1990; Kelso 1989, 1990a-d; Kelso, and degraded pollen in a soil profile. Mrozowski, and Fisher 1987; Kelso eta!. 1989), and there is no doubt that pollen percolation Mainland Pathogenic Vegetation Changes and degradation are normal post-depositional Chestnut (Castanea) pollen was not found soil processes affecting pollen spectra. in level 5 or above in the Pepperrell House pro These pollen concentration and preservac file (FIG. 3), despite several hours spent scan tion measures are important in the interpreta ning slides in search of the type in samples 1-5. tion of pollen spectra because the presence of Chestnut trees are not now present on the island these characteristic concentration and degrada (Borror 1988: 8-13) and may never have been tion patterns indicate that the profile has de (Gross 1988: 3). These trees are wind-polli veloped naturally (i.e., soil processes have not nated, and the chestnut pollen in samples 6 and been interrupted or disrupted) and that the suc below probably originated on the adjacent cession of pollen spectra visible in the profile mainland. The disappearance of the type in have leached down to their present positions the pollen record appears to register the vir from the surface. Where human activity was tual extermination of the native American ch intense, as in urban situations, rapid profile estnuts (Castanea dentata) by a foreign aggradation and soil compression often prevent pathogen during the first half of the 20th cen pollen leaching and oxygen penetration, and tury. these characteristic patterns are not found The blight was introduced in the New York (Kelso 1991: 5). City area around 1904. It had destroyed mo~t of The presence of these normal pollen concen the chestnuts south and west of New tration and degradation patterns in the Hampshire by 1920 (Anderson 1974: 679, figure Pepperrell House excavation unit N2W6 profile 1) and was deep into Maine by 1930 (Davis indicates that the sediment has not been dis 1967: 144). It should have reached the coast turbed and that human activity on the site was opposite the Isles of Shoals by about 1925. This not intense during the period of pollen deposi can be used to establish the leaching rate for tion. The pollen sequence is a normal pollen the Pepperrell House profile. profile developed by pollen percolation into The absence of chestnut pollen in sample 5 the soil from the ground surface. This normal suggests that its pollen spectra dates to ca. percolation pattern will permit dating various 1925. The bottom of sample 5 was 15 em down in parts of the spectrum when the pollen percola the profile (allowing for missing sample 2). tion rate is established. The samples were taken in 1988, and the 78 Pollen Record at Isles of Shoals/Kelso and Harrington

elapsed time since the deposition of the 5 sam ple sediment in ca. 1925 is 63 years. The pollen percolation rate in the upper portion of the pro file, at least, is ca. 4.2 years per centimeter or 10 centimeters every 42 years.

The Mainland Land-Use Record

None of the primary trees contributing to the pollen diagram are currently present on Appledore Island (Borror 1988: 8-13). The ab sence of timber from the islands was noted early in the occupation (Rutledge 1971: 9), and the soil has probably always been too shallow to support tall growth (Gross 1988: 3). Most of the arboreal pollen in the sampled deposit was wind-transported from the mainland. The Pepperrell House arboreal pollen spectrum is part of the regional rather than the local pollen rain. The third significant trend among the Pepperrell House pollen spectra in the William Pepperrell House profile is the steady decline in pollen percentages of oak (Quercus) and hickory (Carya), the two most prominent arboreal pollen types in the spec trum, and in the combined arboreal pollen sum from the bottom of the profile up through sam ple 3. This pattern is interrupted in samples 10 and 11 by a brief peak of oak that also raised the total percentage of arboreal pollen, but it can only reflect the forest clearance on a re gional scale that characterized Euroamerican land use from the third decade of the 17th cen tury into the late 19th century (Carrol 1973: 51; Russell 1976: 460). Pine (Pinus) and birch (Betula) pollen percentages increase in samples 7 and 7a, respectively. Both of these taxa are recognized secondary succession trees in New England (Barrett 1980: 52; Powells 1965: 99, 333), and the increase in their pollen contribu tion records the beginning of secondary forest succession in the area. The Appledore pollen percolation rate of 4.2 years per centimeter that was computed from the chestnut decline. suggests that this reforestation began ca. 1900. Figure 5. Grass pollen grain sizes in If a few years are allowed for trees to reach the microns at the William Pepperell House age of anthesis, this date is consistent with Site. Russell's (1976: 460) statement that Maine reached its highest point of land clearance in 1880. \ Northeast Historical Arclweology/Val. 18, 1989 79

The Local Land-Use Record sample 7, as grass pollen grains get larger. Goosefoot, ragweed and dandelion-types drop The fourth significant trend in the off fairly abruptly in sample 5, but the aster Pepperrell House pollen sequence is registered and dock type pollen percentages continue to in among the non-arboreal pollen spectra. Non crease to the top of the profile, and sheep-sor arboreal pollen originates close to the ground rel pollen (Rumex acetosella-type) pollen ap where wind velocities are relatively low and pears in the spectrum. A local land-use episode the possibility of loss through impact with appears to be recorded in these changes in the vegetation is relatively high. Little herb spectra. pollen is lifted high enough into the atmo Perennial grasses are intolerant of soil dis sphere to be incorporated in the regional pollen turbance because it destroys their perennating rain (Janssen 1973: 33), and most, if not all, of organs (Behre 1983: 229). Higher grass pollen the William Pepperrell House non-arboreal frequencies in historical· profiles correlate with pollen is local in origin. A comparison of the relatively stable soil (Solomon and Kroener arboreal and non-arboreal sums will provide 1971: figures 8, 9; Kelso and Schoss 1983: 74; some information about the relative density of Kelso, Stone, and Karish 1990: 10). Ragweed the local groundcover producing the non-arbo pollen, on the other hand, is the premier soil real pollen spectrum. disturbance indicator in North American his The concentration of airborne arboreal torical period pollen spectra. Plants producing pollen incorporated in the regional pollen rain this kind of pollen are better able to endure the thins out as it is drawn into the upper atmo harsh moisture and temperature regimen of sphere (Raynor, Ogden, and Hayes 1974), and bare ground (Bazzaz 1974: 112) and peaks of the regional pollen rain on soils is usually ragweed-type pollen have frequently been used masked by the larger pollen contributions of the as a horizon marker for the advent of European local flora. On large bare spaces or in large style agriculture in pollen profiles (Solomon lakes, where the pollen contribution from local and Kroener 1971: 33). The ragweed-type pollen vegetation is much smaller, the regional pollen frequencies on Appledore are, however, low rain is more visible and may even dominate the relative to those of known agricultural sites spectrum (Martin 1963: figure 2; Tauber 1965: (Kelso 1985: figure 43; Kelso, Stone, and Karish 33). This is significant because the majority of 1990: figure 2), and the plants shedding aster the pollen grains in the deepest nine samples of type pollen, dandelion-type pollen, dock-type the William Pepperrell House profile are from pollen and the members of the goosefoot family trees, and tree pollen clearly dominates sam are more prominent on inactive farmland, on ples 11 through 14 (FIG. 3). It is probable that pastures, and on waste ground than on tilled the groundcover in the vicinity of the soil (Muenscher 1955: 422-505; Fernald 1970: Pepperrell House during deposition of samples 1357-1567). Goosefoot has a definite preference 11 and.below was less dense than in later times. for rich soil (Behre 1983: 236). Sheep-sorrel Grass pollen dominates this non-arboreal prefers poor soil to such an extent that it is best spectrum throughout the occupation and is par controlled by fertilization (Muenscher 1955: ticularly prominent at the bottom of the profile 174; Fernald 1970: 571). Modest soil distur (FIG. 3). The proportion of grass pollen de bance, but not cultivation, in the vicinity of the creases above sample 13, and the size of the Pepperrell House is indicated in samples 6-11. grass pollen grains in the samples is reduced A more stable, less fertile soil condition is from a mean of 23 microns to 20 microns (FIG. 5). recorded in samples 1-6, but the groundcover This last trend either suggests a phenotypic re did not entirely revert to the pre-disturbance sponse to physical stress of some sort, or the re situation. A thicker cover of, possibly, a new placement of one kind of grass by another. As variety of grass is indicated by the pollen data, grass declines in importance in samples 12 and while dock and asters were entrenched in waste 11, the insect-pollinated Compositae (Aster ground near the site. type), goosefoot-type, dock-type, ragweed The decline in grass and the increase in type and dandelion-type contributions to the aster-type marking the beginning of this trend counts begin to increase. This trend is partially occurred in sample 12, the initial increase in reversed above sample 7. The grass pollen con ragweed-type and chenopodium occurred in tribution grass increases markedly above sample 11, and dandelion-type counts really 80 Pollc11 Record at Isles of 5/waf!;/Kclso nnd Harrillgl<•ll started to increase in s

Benninghoff, Willard S. Gross, Laura B. 1962 Calculation of Pollen and Spore Density 1988 Geologic Contributions to the Field in Sediments by Addition of Exotic Pollen Report, Isles of Shoals Archaeology in Known Amounts. Pollen et Spores 6(2): Project. Ms. on file at the New England 332-333. Studies Program, University of Southern Maine, Portland. Borror, Arthur C. 1988 Checklist of the Marine Flora and Fauna, Harrington, Faith Including the Birds of the Isles of Shoals 1987 Field Report, Isles of Shoals and the Vascular Plants of Appiedore Archaeological Project, Summer 1987. Island. Manuscript on file, Shoals Marine Ms. on file, New England Studies Laboratory, Appiedore Island, Isles of Program, University of Southern Maine, Shoals, Kittery, ME. Portland. 1988 Archaeology at the Isles of Shoals. Carrol, C. F. Context (the newsletter of the Center for 1973 The Timber Economy of Puritan New Archaeological Studies at Boston England. Brown University Press, University) 6(3-4): 13-16. Providence, Rl. 1989 New England's First Settlers. Preliminary Report of the 1988 Field Season of Cushing, Edward J. EARTHWATCH, New England's Settlers 1964 Redeposited Pollen in Late Wisconsin Archaeological Project. Report on file at Pollen Spectra from East-Central the New England Studies Program. Minnesota. American foumal of Science University of Southern Maine, Portland. 262: 1075-1088. 1990 Preliminary Report on the 1990 Field Season of the Isles of Shoals Archaeology Davis, Ronald B. Project. Report on file at the Maine 1967 Pollen Studies of Near Surface Sediments Historic Preservation Commission, in Maine Lakes. In Quaternary Augusta. Paleoecology, ed. by E. J. Cushing and R. 1992 The Dynamics of the Fishing Community B. Webb, 143-173. Yale University Press, at the Isles of Shoals. In The Art and New Haven. Mystery of Historical Archaeology: Essays in Honor of james Deetz, ed. by Anne Yentsch and Mary C. Beaudry. Dimbleby, Geoffrey W. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. 1985 The Palynology of Archaeological Sites. Academic Press, New York. Harrington, Faith, and Victoria Kenyon 1987 New Hampshire Coastal Sites Survey, Fernald, M. L. Summer 1986. The New Hampshire 1970 Gray's Marilla/ of Botany. 8th ed. Van Archaeologist 28(1 ): 52-62. Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York. Havinga, A. J. Fowells, H. A. 1984 A 20 Year Investigation into Differential 1965 The Silvics of Forest Trees. USDA Forest Corrosion Susceptibility of Pollen and Service Handbook 271. United States Spores in Various Soil Types. Pollen et Department of Agriculture, Washington, Spores 26(3-4): 541-558. D.C. Janssen, C. R. 1973 Local and Regional Pollen Deposition. In Goldstein, S. Quatemary Plant Ecology, ed. by H. B. J. 1960 Degradation of Pollen by Phycomycetes. Birks and R. G. West, 31-42. Blackwell Ecology 41: 543-545. Scientific, London. Northeast Historical Archaeology/Val. 18, 1989 . 83

Kelso, Gerald K. Kelso, Gerald K, and Johanna Schoss 1985 Palynology and Historic Land Use in· 1983 Exploratory Pollen Analysis of the Central New England: The Record from Bostonian Hotel Site Sediments. In Shattuck Farm. In The Camp at the Bend Archaeology of the Bostonian Hotel Site, of the River, ed. by Barbara E. Luedtke, ed. by James W. Bradley, Neal DePaoli, 360-399. Occasional Publications in Nancy Seasholes, Patricia McDowell, Archaeology and History 4. Gerald Kelso and Johanna Schoss, 67-76. Massachusetts Historical Commission, Occasional Publications in Archaeology Boston. and History 2. Massachusetts Historical 1989 Exploratory Pollen Analysis of Central Commission, Boston. Artery Sites. In Phase II Archaeological Investigations of the Central Artery/Third Kelso, Gerald K., Stephen A. Mrozowski, and Harbor Tunnel Project in Boston, William F. Fisher Massachusetts, Volume One: Text and 1987 Contextural Archeology at the Kirk Street Illustrations, ed. by Ricardo J. Elia, 101- Agent's House Site. In Interdisciplinary 105. Office of Public Archaeology, Boston Investigations of the Boott Mills, Lowell, University, Boston. Massachusetts. Vol. II: The Kirk Street 1990a Report of Exploratory Pollen Analysis in Agents' House, ed. by M. C. Beaudry and the Pequot Refuge, Ledyard, Connecticut. S. A. Mrozowski, 97-130. Cultural Manuscript on file, Division of Cultural Resources Management Study 19. Resources, North Atlantic Regional Division of Cultural Resources, North Office, National Park Service, Boston. Atlantic Regional Office, National Park 1990b Report of Exploratory Pollen Analysis in Service, Boston. the "British Woods," Saratoga National Historical Park. Manuscript on file, Kelso, Gerald K., Stephen A. Mrozowski, William F. Division of Cultural Resources, North Fisher, and Karl J. Reinhard Atlantic Regional Office, National Park 1989 Contextual Archeology at the Boott Mill Service. Boston. Boardinghouse Backlots. In 1990c Exploratory Pollen Analysis of Historical Interdisciplinary Investigations of the Matrices at the David. Brown Homestead. Boott Mills, Lowell, Massachusets. Vol. In Archeological Investigations of Minute Ill: The Boarding House System as a Man Natio11al Historical Park, Volume I: Way of Life, ed. by M. C. Beaudry and S. Farmers a11d Artisans of the Historical A. Mrozowski, 231-278. Cultural Period, ed. by Allen T. Synenki, 85-106. Resources Management Study 21. Cultural Resources Management Study Division of Cultural Resources. North 22. Division of Cultural Resources, North Atlantic Regional Office, National Park Atlantic Regional Office, National Park Service, Boston. Service, Boston. 1990d Report of Exploratory Pollen Analysis on Two Profiles from the Carns Site, Coast Kelso, Gerald K., Roger Stone, and John F. Karish Guard Beach, Cape Cod National 1990 ·Pollen Analysis. in Historic Landscape Seashore. Manuscript on file, Division of Studies at Fort Necessity National Cultural Resources, North Atlantic Battlefield. Park Scie11ce 10(2): 10-11. Regional Office, National Park Service, Boston. King, James E., Walter E. Klipple, and Rose Duffield 1991 Interdisciplinary Research in Historic 1975 Pollen Preservation and Archaeology in Landscape Management. CRM 14(6) Eastern North America. America11 Technical Supplement: 1-11. Alltiquittt40(2): 180-190. 84 Pollen Record at Isles of Shoals/Kelso and Harrington

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Rutledge, Lyman V. 1971 The Isles of Shoals i11 Lore and Lege11d. The Star Island Corporation, Boston. Gerald K. Kelso Archeology Branch Schoenwetter, James Cultural Resources Center 1987 Review of The Paly11ology of North Atlantic Regional Office Arc/zneological 5 i tes (1985) by Geoffrey National Park Service W. Dimbleby. Amcrica11 Antiquity 25(1 ): 15 State Street 204-206. Boston, MA 02109 Solomon, Allen M., and Duane F. Kroener 1971 Suburban Replacement of Rural Land Faith Harrington Uses Reflected in the Pollen Rain of New England Studies Northeastern New jersey. Bulleti11 of the University of Southern Maine New Jersey Academy of Scimce 16(1-2): 11 Granite Street 30-44. Portland ME 04103