Study of 97 pollen samples suggests that pollen occurs in sufficient quantity for analysis, that economic pollen types occur, and that pollen sequences indicate paleoenvironmental changes over time. An extraction technique for recovering sufficient pollen for analysis is described for samples dominated by coral sand particles. 29 pollen taxa were recognized in the analysis of a series of samples from a Futuna Island rockshelter.

Argues that the canons of evidence that apply to artifactual evidence of prehistoric behavior patterns are sometimes distinct from those that apply to non-artifactual evidence, and the logic and archaeological value of the latter is not less simply because it is different. The essay is intended to instruct and sensitise archaeologists to this issue as much as it is to allay concern that the pollen evidence for Archaic maize cultivation at the Koster site may not be credible. 49 p. Also see Schoenwetter 1994