Pollen Analysis of Prehistoric Human Feces: A New Approach to Ethnobotany

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Abstract
Prehistoric human and nonhuman feces from alcoves in the Glen Canyon region of southern Utah are a rich source of pollen and spores. The dominant pollen types (determined in a 200-grain pollen count) vary greatly from sample to sample, making stratigraphic and climatic interpretation very difficult. The record of economic plant pollen appears to reflect the prehistoric Pueblo diet. Cleome, Zea, Cucurbita, and Opuntia are the most abundant economic pollen types. Long-distance transport of pollen from distant montane forests will account for the presence of occasional pollen grains of spruce, fir, and alder in certain samples. The salvage and study of ancient human feces promises to reveal new information about the environment and diet of prehistoric man in the Southwest, a development of interest to both the ecologist and the ethnobotanist.