"Anthropogenic" pollen assemblages from a Bronze Age cemetery at Linga Fiold, West Mainland, Orkney

Pollen analyses from a variety of contexts in a Bronze Age cemetery are used to reconstruct aspects of activity around the site during mound construction and use. Various tests are used to assess the reliability of the pollen assemblages recovered, and error analysis used to determine whether perceived differences between contexts are significant and therefore able to support an archaeological interpretation. The data suggest that the mounds were constructed on pasture land, that pyre fuel was predominantly turf, from both heathland and grassland sources, and that polleniferous material including sources of Plantago lanceolata and cereal pollen were deposited on some cist floors before they were filled.