RESEARCH: OUTCOMES, VIEWPOINTS & PERSPECTIVES

Palaeoecological potential of pollen record in caves

Cave palynology tends to arouse controversy and scepticism, especially when employed in archaeological inquiry to reconstruct the prehistoric environments. This is because of

• (a) possible discontinuities in sedimentary sequences and gaps in pollen records,
  
• (b) differential preservation or even widespread destruction of certain palynomorphs by oxidizing agents or bacterial activity which can distort the pollen records,
  
• (c) pollen transport by animals, leading to over-representation of some taxa, and
  
• (d) vertical movement or reworking leading to contamination of sediments by younger or modern pollen.

Nevertheless, cave studies can throw some light on palaeoenvironmental conditions, provided due account is taken of those taphonomical problems. I agree with this view and think that pollen obtained from cave sediments can provide extremely useful palaeoecological information, when studied in a multidisciplinary context
( SEE POLLEN DIAGRAM OF BENEITO CAVE)
( SEE POLLEN DIAGRAM OF CARIHUELA CAVE).

More in...

CARRIÓN, J.S., MUNUERA, M., NAVARRO, C., BURJACHS, F., DUPRÉ, M. & WALKER, M. 1999. Palaeoecological potential of pollen records in caves: the case of Mediterranean Spain. Quaternary Science Reviews 18(8): 67-78

CARRIÓN, J.S. & SCOTT, L. 1999. The challenge of pollen analysis in palaeoenvironmental studies of hominid beds. the record from Sterkfontein Caves. Journal of Human Evolution 36: 401-408

CARRIÓN, J.S., MUNUERA, M. & NAVARRO, C. 1998. The palaeoenvironment of Carihuela Cave (Granada, Spain): a reconstruction on the basis of palynological investigations of cave sediments. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 99: 117-144

CARRIÓN, J.S. & MUNUERA, M. 1997. Upper Pleistocene palaeoenvironmental change in eastern Spain. New pollen-analytical data from Cova Beneito (Alicante). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 128: 287-299

CARRIÓN, J.S., DUPRÉ, M., FUMANAL, M.P. & MONTES, R. 1995. A palaeoenvironmental study in the semiarid southeastern Spain: the palynological and sedimentological sequence at Perneras Cave (Lorca, Murcia). Journal of Archaeological Science 22: 355-367

CARRIÓN, J.S. 1992. Late Quaternary pollen sequence from Carihuela Cave, Southeastern Spain. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 71: 37-77

CARRIÓN, J.S. 1992. A palaeoecological study in the Western Mediterranean area. The Upper Pleistocene pollen record from Cova Beneito (Alicante, Spain). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 92: 1-14