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To test the feasibility of recovering pollen from the shipwreck, several sediment samples were collected from bilge debris in the pump wells, mast step mortise, and between the floors and buttresses of the ship. Four sediment samples were sent to the Palynology Laboratory at Texas A&M University for pollen processing and a presence/absence analysis. Before processing, each sediment sample was given a known quantity of an exotic tracer spore (Lycopodium, 11,300 ± 400 spores/tablet) so that concentration values could be determined (Weinstein 1994:2).
Pollen preservation of the samples ranged from fair to good. A number of grains, pines in particular, showed evidence of maceration, collapse, and fragmentation. These effects indicate that pollen grains were subject to some type of mechanical stress. At this site, "these probably include abrasion, grinding, and maceration due to the proximity of the shipwreck to the north shore of the bay, wave action, the shallow depth of the site, and periodic high energy storm events" (Weinstein 1994:4). However, each sample contained a large amount of pollen, a variety of taxa, few indeterminate grains, and high concentration values. The fossil pollen recovered in the samples was dominated by pine with lesser contributions of pecan, walnut, maple, oak, Ambrosia-type (ragweed) and Helianthus-type (sunflower) composites, non-Zea grasses, and Cheno-Ams (Weinstein 1994:3).
According to Weinstein (1994:3), pollen types recovered in the Emanuel Point Ship sediment samples reflect the contributions of floral types that are indigenous to the areas bordering Pensacola Bay. Although pollen grains in all of the samples exhibited evidence of mechanical and biological degradation, the presence/absence analysis confirmed that sufficient quantities of identifiable pollen are preserved in the bilge sediments to warrant statistically valid 200-300 grain counts. A complete analysis of these samples and future samples taken from the wreck may yield more specific information pertaining to the environment at the time the wreck occurred, shipboard diet, and cargo.
Specimen |
Taxa |
Common Name |
Count |
Origin** |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
* Data and analysis by Lee Newsom, Center for Archaeological Investigations, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, June 1995. ** NA = North America; NW = New World (American continents); NWT = New World Tropical (Neotropics); OW - Old World; PT = Paleotropics; UC = uncertain origin (genera exists in both hemispheres). | ||||
Pits |
Olea europaea |
olive |
434 |
OW |
Pits |
Prunus cerasus |
cherry |
8 |
OW |
Pit |
Prunus domestica |
plum/prune |
1 |
OW |
Pits |
Prunus amygdalus |
almond |
3 |
OW |
Seeds |
Diospyros virginiana |
persimmon |
12 |
NA |
Seed |
Magnolia grandiflora |
southern magnolia |
1 |
NA |
Seed |
Nyssa aquatica /N. ogeche |
water or swamp tupelo |
1 |
NA |
Spiny seed/fruit |
(unidentified) |
- |
1 |
|
Seed fragment |
Pouteria sp. |
sapote |
1 |
NWT |
Seed fragments |
Diospyros virginiana |
persimmon |
8 |
NA |
Seed fragment |
Diospyros virginiana |
persimmon |
1 |
NA |
Nutshells |
Carya sp. |
hickory |
2 |
NA |
Nutshell |
Coryleus sp. (C. avellana) |
hazelnut |
1 |
OW |
Nutshell fragment |
Coryleus sp. (C. avellana) |
hazelnut |
9 |
OW |
Nutshell fragment |
Carya sp. |
hickory |
1 |
NA |
Nutshell fragment |
Cocos nucifera |
coconut |
1 |
PT |
Acorns |
Quercus sp. |
oak |
2 |
UC |
Gourd rind |
Lagenaria siceraria |
bottle gourd |
2 |
OW/NW |
Stems |
cf. Carica papaya |
papaya (tentatively) |
3 |
NWT |
Leaf |
cf. Acer sp. |
maple (red maple, tentatively) |
1 |
NA |
Leaf |
Quercus sp. |
oak |
1 |
UC |
Twigs |
(unidentified) |
- |
5 |
|
Bark |
cf. Pinus sp. |
pine (tentatively) |
1 |
|
Bark fragments |
(unidentified) |
- |
2 |
|
Rope sample |
Cannabis sativa |
hemp |
± 25 ml |
OW |
Rope sample |
Poaceae |
grass family |
± 20 ml |
UC |
Resinous mass |
(unidentified) |
disaggregated resin? |
- |
|
Misc. organic |
unidentified) |
inner bark? |
4 |
|