Report of the Archaeological Investigations of the New Castle Court ...

Wade Catts , RPA
Associate/Senior Project Manager
John Milner Associates, Inc
535 N. Church Street
West Chester, PA. 19380
Dear Mr. Catts,
Dorothy Peteet, Ph.D
Room 204 New Core Lab
Lamont Doherty Earth Obs.
Palisades, NY 10964
June 27, 2005
I am writing to you to report on our research regarding the ten samples you sent us from
the excavation of the Old New Castle Courthouse in New Castle, Delaware. Five (P-5, P-7, P-8,
P-15, P-16) of the ten test samples were selected after our phone conversation about the potential
of these samples for pollen. My technician, Dee Pederson, spent three full days trying to rid these
samples of clays prior to our normal processing for pollen and spores. The procedure involves
repeated washing of the samples in sodium pyrophosphate prior along with screening of the
samples with 150 and 7 micron screens. Following the cleaning procedure, she treated the
samples with glacial acetic acid, acetolysis ( a mixture of sulfuric acid and acetic anhydride),
glacial acetic acid again, multiple washes of tertiary butyl alcohol, and finally silicon oil. The
samples were spiked with an exotic spore (Lycopodium) which we routinely use to add to our
samples in order to calculate pollen concentrations.
The results of the study were disappointing, as three of the samples (P7, P15, and P16)
were barren of pollen except for our Lycopodium spike. The remaining two samples contained
the following amounts of pollen from one full slide:
NCC P 5 Pinus –1
Betula –1
Castanea-1
Cyperaceae –5
Polypodiaceae –4
Osmunda –1
Exotic Lycopodium -138
The normal pollen counts/Lycopodium per wetland sample (lake, fen, bog, swamp) range
from about 5-25, so the pollen preservation in this sample was extremely low. The existing tree
pollen (pine, birch, chestnut) are representative of the region, and the relatively large number of
sedge (Cyperaceae) pollen and fern (Polypodiaceae and Osmunda) spores suggest a possibly
moist environment nearby. Unfortunately, the low count precludes further interpretation of the
site.
NCC P 8 Pinus –3
Chenopodiaceae –3
Compositae-2
Polypodiaceae –2
Exotic Lycopodium –205
This sample also was extremely low in pollen preservation (see above), and the pine is
probably representative of the region. The presence of chenopods and compositae pollen