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Dating Pollen

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Citation for published version (APA): Fletcher, W. (2018, Dec 5). Dating Pollen. John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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Download date:01. Oct. 2021 newly acquired during the pollen development Dating Pollen stage or derived from stored reserves of at most a few years’ age (e.g., Davis and Sparks 1971). WILLIAM J. FLETCHER Pollen grains therefore provide a reliable and University of Manchester, UK effectively instantaneous “snapshot” of carbon isotopic ratios in the atmosphere during the time of pollen development. Fractionation effects Introduction (differential uptake of heavy and light carbon isotopes) occur during photosynthesis, but these Pollen grains, the male microgametophytes of are assessed by the parallel measurement of seed plants (angiosperms and gymnosperms), are radioactive (14C) and stable (13C) carbon iso- widely distributed in the environment and accu- topes and are corrected for in the reporting of mulate in a range of sedimentary environments radiocarbon dating results. Sporopollenin is including lakes, bogs, caves, floodplains, and the furthermore remarkably resistant to chemical deep oceans. While some components of pollen attack, meaning that pollen grains are inert in grains such as the generative nucleus degrade the environment and can be considered closed quickly in the environment, the resilient pollen systems with respect to the pool of carbon within wall can be preserved for thousands to millions them. Finally, the morphological characteristics of years. The widespread distribution and high of pollen grains mean that they can be identified preservation potential of pollen grains underline to different taxonomic groups (typically families, the value of ancient or “subfossil” pollen not only genera or species), providing valuable contextual as a tool for reconstructing past vegetation history information for the dated sample. and environmental change (see palynology), but also as a sample material for radiocarbon dat- ing. The wide variety of deposits that have been successfully dated from pollen include peats, lake Preparation procedures and practical sediments, aeolian deposits, packrat middens, considerations and Pleistocene ice-wedge casts. Key advantages of pollen as a dating material are that it may be Dating of pollen requires the preparation, in a present in deposits where plant macrofossils are suitably equipped laboratory, of a pollen-rich scarce or lacking, and it can be identified in terms organic residue or pollen concentrate. This pro- of the source vegetation, unlike bulk material cess shares many stages with the preparation of where the provenance is unknown. pollen residues for microscopic analysis, while avoiding carbon-containing chemicals (e.g., acetic anhydride, used in acetolysis, and ethanol). Basis of the approach Typically, a combination of digestion stages in acidicandalkalinereagentsisusedtoremove Pollen grains, along with the spores of terres- carbonates and humic acids from the peat or trial lower plants (ferns and mosses), possess sediment sample, followed by deionized water several characteristics that make them highly washes to remove clay particles. Finally, the con- suitable for radiocarbon dating. The pollen wall centrationofpollengrainsisachievedthrough is composed of the organic biopolymer sporopol- separation of the organic fraction using dense lenin,whichisrichincarbonintheformof media (heavy liquids) and microsieving. Dense both long-chain macromolecules and aromatic media separation may either be undertaken at a compounds. Carbon in sporopollenin is derived single target density (e.g., 1.5 times the density of from atmospheric CO2 through photosynthesis, water, or 1.5 SG) in which pollen grains, which incorporating photosynthates that are either haveatypicaldensityofslightlylessthan1.5SG

The Encyclopedia of Archaeological Sciences. Edited by Sandra L. López Varela. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2018 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. DOI: 10.1002/9781119188230.saseas0156 2 DATING POLLEN

(Régnell and Everitt 1992), float, or at a series and foil by heating to 500∘Cinafurnace,and of decreasing densities (e.g., from 1.6–1.15 SG), thoroughly rinsing plastics (tubes, mesh, etc.) allowing selection of the purest residue(s) for in deionized water. In light of the small sam- dating (Vandergoes and Prior 2003). Alternatives ple size of pollen concentrates and the fairly to density separations include manual selection of intense pre-treatments required, it is advisable individual grains using a micromanipulator (e.g., Long, Davis, and De Lanois 1992), and isolation to undertake the parallel processing and dating of pollen grains using flow cytometry (Tennant of one or more laboratory standards to rule out et al. 2013). However, the former technique is contamination with modern carbon and to allow generally too time-consuming to be practical for correction factors to be applied if necessary. In unless very large pollen grains such as Picea are any case, it is advisable to discuss the strategy for abundant, and the latter has yet to be routinely pollen concentrate dating with the radiocarbon applied for radiocarbon dating. Sieving using facility prior to undertaking the preparation nylon mesh can be used to further concentrate organic particles within the size range of pollen procedure. (typically ∼20–80 μm, but this may be tailored Pollen concentrates should be dried or to suit the predominant pollen types in a specific freeze-dried prior to measurement of the dry sample) (Brown et al. 1992). weight of sample submitted for dating. Advances At each stage of the preparation, it is help- in the measurement of small samples and ful to inspect the content of the residue under widespread availability of the AMS technique a high-powered transmitted light microscope, mean that samples containing as little as 200 μgof usingafinePasteurpipettetoextractaminute droplet of residue and placing it on a micro- carbon may be dated at many globally distributed scope slide under a coverslip. This allows the radiocarbon facilities, and even smaller samples efficacy of the preparation stages to be assessed may be dated at some facilities. When assessing andmodificationstobeimplementedasnec- thesizeofsamplesforanalysis,itshouldbetaken essary, for example in selecting suitable sieve into account that the pollen concentrates may not meshapertureswithrespecttothesizeclassesof be composed entirely of pollen, and that pollen both target pollen types to be retained and any itself is only composed of around 50% carbon. In undesirable organic components to be removed. practice, dry sample weights of around 5–15 mg Visual inspection and quantitative estimation (e.g., tally count of objects) of the purity of the are recommended. While these amounts are pollen concentrate is essential, since the efficacy small, quite large quantities of starting material of the pollen concentration preparation may be may be required to produce pollen concentrates strongly influenced by site- and sample-specific of sufficient size. At the outset, it is helpful to characteristics including total pollen concentra- know the absolute concentration of pollen in tion in the deposit, as well as the composition the sediment sample, as commonly estimated and proportions of different organic matter types through the addition of an exotic marker such (pollen, terrestrial plant spores, algal spores, fungal spores, microcharcoal, wood fragments, as Lycopodium spores. This approach, of course, leaf tissues, etc.). cannot be used directly in the exact sample to Particular attention must be paid to maintain- be dated. In a recent case study, approximately ing a clean working environment and avoiding 15 g of dry lake sediments with a typical pollen contamination with modern carbon in the form concentration of ca. 200,000 grains per cm3 were of ambient dust, pollen, powders, oils, and so used to generate pollen concentrates ranging on. This does not require the use of a certified from 1–9 mg dry weight and 48% carbon content clean-room facility, but simply special atten- tion to minimizing exposure to contaminants (Fletcher et al. 2017). Higher, or lower, pollen by common-sense means, including wearing concentrations in the material would allow for powder-free gloves at all stages, working with smaller, or demand larger, starting samples, capped centrifuge tubes, pre-cleaning glassware respectively. DATING POLLEN 3

Interpretation of pollen dates informative regarding the detection of reworking or reservoir effects. In common with all dating approaches, atten- tion should be paid to the characteristics of the SEE ALSO: Radiocarbon Calibration and Age sample material when interpreting the results Estimation of the radiocarbon dating. In principle, a sam- ple of pollen grains should not be subject to uncertainty associated with dating samples from REFERENCES long-lived organisms, such as wood or charcoal, in which carbon accumulates sequentially over Brown,T.A.,G.W.Farwell,P.M.Grootes,andF. considerably longer timescales (decades to cen- H. Schmidt. 1992. “Radiocarbon AMS Dating of Pollen Extracted from Peat Samples.” Radiocarbon turies). In practice, however, a sample of ancient 34: 550–56. pollen extracted from a sedimentary deposit will 14 Davis, J. T., and D. Sparks. 1971. “Assimilation of CO2 typically integrate pollen released over multiple by Catkins of Carya illinoensis and Apparent Translo- seasons of pollen production, depending on the cation to the Pollen.” American Journal of Botany 58: sedimentation rate of the deposit. Nevertheless, 932–38. the resulting age of the pollen concentrate should Fletcher, W. J., C. Zielhofer, S. Mischke, C. Bryant, X. provide an accurate estimate of the time of Xu, and D. Fink. 2017. “AMS Radiocarbon Dating of incorporation of pollen into the deposit. In the Pollen Concentrates in a Karstic Lake System.” Qua- context of a continuously accumulating deposit, ternary Geochronology 39: 112–23. the age of the pollen concentrate will therefore Howarth,J.D.,S.J.Fitzsimons,G.E.Jacobsen,M. indicate the time of deposition and provide a J. Vandergoes, and R. J. Norris. 2013. “Identify- ing a Reliable Target Fraction for Radiocarbon Dat- suitable basis for the development of depositional ing Sedimentary Records from Lakes.” Quaternary models and estimation of sedimentation rates. Geochronology 17: 68–80. Two potential sources of uncertainty should be Long, A., O. K. Davis, and J. De Lanois. 1992. “Separa- considered, namely reworking of old pollen from tion and 14CDatingofPurePollenfromLakeSed- soils or sediments (e.g., Howarth et al. 2013), and iments: Nanofossil AMS Dating.” Radiocarbon 34: incorporation of organic matter derived from 557–60. aquatic production in deep lakes and hardwater MacDonald,G.M.,R.P.Beukens,andW.E.Kieser. settings (e.g., Fletcher et al. 2017). Both problems 1991. “Radiocarbon Dating of Limnic Sediments: a mayresultinagesthatareolderthanthetime Comparative Analysis and Discussion. Ecology 72: of deposition, due either to the incorporation 1150–55. Régnell, J., and Everitt, E. 1996. “Preparative of non-contemporaneous (old) pollen grains, or Centrifugation—a New Method for Preparing contemporaneous organic matter containing old Pollen Concentrates Suitable for Radiocarbon Dat- carbon associated with aquatic reservoir effects ing by AMS.” Vegetation History and Archaeobotany (MacDonald, Beukens, and Kieser 1991). The 5: 201–205. best guard against misinterpretation is good Tennant,R.K.,R.T.Jones,F.Brock,C.Cook,C.S.Tur- knowledgeofthecompositionofthedatedsam- ney, J. Love, and R. O. B. Lee. 2013. “A New Flow ple derived from visual inspection of the pollen Cytometry Method Enabling Rapid Purification of concentrate prior to dating, accompanied by good Fossil Pollen from Terrestrial Sediments for AMS contextual (geological, geomorphological, hydro- Radiocarbon Dating.” Journal of Quaternary Science logical) information about the site. Comparison 28: 229–36. ofthepollenconcentrateagesandotherdating Vandergoes, M. J., and C. A. Prior. 2003. “AMS Dat- ing of Pollen Concentrates—A Methodological Study results, such as radiocarbon dates on terrestrial of Late Quaternary Sediments from South Westland, plant macrofossils where available, can be highly New Zealand.” Radiocarbon 45: 479–91.