Resumen de Pollen evidence of subsistance and environment in ancient Iran
A new pollen extraction methodology developed especially for arid-land sediments has yielded substantial amounts of pollen from archeological contexts. Soil samples analyzed for their pollen content from Ali Kosh, Chagha Sefid, and Tepe Sabz on the Deh Luran Plain produced not only grains of anemophilous or wind pollinated plant species, but also appreciable amounts of entomophilous or insect pollinated plant species. Representation of a variety of plant families in the pollen record clearly reflects local environmental and ecological change. Such change is, perhaps, caused by human land use through time. Pollen diagrams also suggest interregional contacts through the movements of people and/or livestock by the occurrence of pollen from exotic plant species.
