The challenge of pollen analysis in palaeoenvironmental studies of hominidbeds: the record from Sterkfontein caves

The search for pollen in carbonate-rich sediments from the hominid site Ste rkfontein has been justified because previous investigations suggested that although pollen contamination is a problem, speleothems (e.g. travertines and stalagmites) are most likely to contain reliable assemblages. The new r esults confirm that, although they have some potential, most sediment types from the site, even speleothems, are usually not suitable for analysis and that they contain very low concentrations of pollen, if any. The extractio n of pollen from them is complicated by the problem of contamination from t he modern environment. Such contamination has shown up in many previous inv estigations at this and similar sites and judging from published literature , its significance has not been fully appreciated. Cave palynology can be a very valuable tool in palaeoenvironmental research but the caveats associa ted with palynology of different sediment types especially carbonate impreg nated sediments must be emphasized. (C) 1999 Academic Press.