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

NEW CASTLE COURT HOUSE PLAZA
NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE
4.0 ARTIFACT ANALYSIS
Sample
Description Analyzed
Designation
(yes/no)
P-8 EU 8, Feature 20, base of Level 10, 4.0 ft. below datum Yes
P-9 EU 8, Feature 20, base of Level 10, 4.6 ft. below datum No
P-10 EU 9, Level 5A No
P-11 EU 9, Feature 37, Level 8, north ½ bisection No
P-12 EU 15, Feature 36, Level 7C No
P-15 EU 20, base of level 4, north ½ bisection Yes
P-16 EU 26, top of Feature 25 Yes
Unfortunately the results of the pollen analysis were disappointing. Three of the samples (P7,
P15, and P16) contained no historic pollen. Two samples (P5 and P8) did contain historic pollen,
but in extremely small quantities.
Sample P5 contained tree pollen (pine, birch, and chestnut) along with sedge pollen (Cyperaceae)
and fern (Polypodiaceae and Osmunda) spores. The former are representative trees of the region,
while the latter are indicative of a moist environment close by, probably the marshland depicted
on the Latrobe map that was located historically to the south, just beyond Delaware Street (Heite
and Heite 1989:23, 25). Sample P8 had pine pollen (Pinus) and fern (Polypodiaceae) spores. Also
present were grains of chenopods and compositae, both of which suggest possible disturbance and
European intrusion. The Compositae are plants in the daisy or sunflower family, and form one of
the largest families of flowering plants with about 25,000 species. The Compositae occur in a
broad range of settings and have a number of uses. They are found in nearly all climatic and
topographic settings. In the past as well as today, Compositae are sometimes found as noxious
weeds (such as thistles, ragweed), a food source (for example, sunflowers, lettuce, endive,
chicory), in medicine as herbal healing remedies, as insecticides, and as garden ornamentals
(Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2005).
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