QUSEIR-AL-QADIM, EGYPT, AND THE POTENTIAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL POLLEN ANALYSIS IN THE NEAR-EAST

Rising and falling percentages of non-arboreal pollen at Quseir Al-Qad im, a Mamluk seaport founded on the Egyptian Red Sea Coast during the 13th century, correlate with cultivated cereal pollen distributions an d record soil disturbance reflecting land-use patterns similar to thos e registered in prehistoric sites in the SW United States. It would se em that the kinds of cultural questions asked of pollen data in arid N orth America can be addressed in the Near East as well. A pollen sampl ing strategy for investigating land use, human and domesticated animal diet, room and artifact function, construction sequences, and relativ e dating of structures within Near Eastern settlements is presented.