Quseir Al-Qadim, Egypt, and the Potential of Archaeological Pollen Analysis in the Near East

Abstract

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