Palynological investigations at two Bronze Age burial sites in Fife

Abstract

During excavation of Bronze Age cists, samples were obtained for pollen analysis. One cist, at Upper Kenly Farm, Kingsbarns, yielded no particularly informative pollen. Material from two cists at Dalgety Bay yielded very low concentrations of pollen from grass, plantain, and, probably, hazel, but high concentrations of meadowsweet pollen. Flowers of meadowsweet were probably deposited in these graves at the time of burial; their absence from the Kenly burials may be because those burials took place in winter.