Wetland Microfossils in Soil: Implications for the Study of Land Use on Archaeological Landscapes

Abstract

In this study we identify wetland microfossils in agricultural soils in Polynesian stone mounds at Pouerua, northern New Zealand. These include diatoms, sponge spicules, pollen, and fern and algal spores. As the presence of these microfossils is most likely anthropogenic and, as the soils are porous and free-draining, this shows that wetland microfossils can provide evidence for land use (in this case agriculture) in dryland archaeological landscapes. However, whether the microfossils in the mounds at Pouerua are related to pre- or post-European activity is uncertain because at this stage the rate of microfossil percolation in local soils is unknown.

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