College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Anthropology

Pollen and Paleoethnobotany Laboratory

The pollen laboratory at Washington State University contains state of the art facilities for the extraction, identification and interpretation of fossil pollen from archaeological, geological and forensic materials. Equipment includes four fume hoods, drying cabinets, integrated distilled water outlets, centrifuges, a sonicator and other equipment. Additional facilities include two pollen laboratories, a weighing room, a microscope/reference collection room, a teaching room/core preparation laboratory, a walk-in cold storage room, and a photography and drafting room. Collections include a 4000+ species pollen reference collection, macrobotanical seed and wood collections, and a substantial collection of coprolite specimens.

Research conducted in the pollen laboratory includes the analysis of archaeological sediments, paleoenvironmental cores, historic and prehistoric ceramic residues, and forensic and honey samples. Twelve compound research microscopes are available for use, along with several dissecting scopes for macrobotanical studies.

Pollen, phytolith and other archaeobotanical research methods are introduced in Palynology (ANTH 576), a graduate level laboratory course designed to introduce students to the fascinating world of archaeobotany.



Laboratories in College Hall

Research Projects:

Department Publications

Archaeology site records and department reports are available in the Northwest Reading Room.

Theses & Dissertations

Browse through the title listing of our theses and dissertations.

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Department of Anthropology, PO Box 644910, Washington State University, Pullman WA 99164-4910, 509-335-3441, Contact Us