Pollen Analysis :: essays research papers

The remains of ancient plants can provide a wealth of archaeological information about a site, with many methods being available to the archaeologist engaged in extracting this data. Perhaps one of the most widely-known of these techniques, possibly because of its attractive nature, is pollen analysis - a technique developed in the early years of the twentieth century by, like so many archaeological techniques, a geologist -- the Norwegian Lennart van Post. To understand the technique and the uses to which it may be put, we must first examine the biological nature of the material itself. Because of a hard outer shell - the exine - pollen is particularly resistant to chemical attack and will survive in most conditions; the only environments which are truly hostile to this shell are abrasion, such as may be the case on sandy sites, and oxidation. However, the most favourable conditions for preservation of the pollen record are acidic, anaerobic sites such as peat bogs. This high degree of survivability combines with another factor inherent in the nature of pollen - the large amount produced - to make pollen analysis one of the most important tools available to the archaeologist. Though one further factor in the make-up of pollen enhances its value, namely the wide morphological variation between pollen from different plant species, most of which can be detected and classified using normal laboratory equipment. Pollen analysis is a technique which demands a high level of skill on the part of the excavator, scientist and interpreter to enable it to fulfil its potential. Collection of pollen samples can prove troublesome, the risk of cross-contamination is significant and efforts must be made to minimize the effect of any excavational bias. The number and ratio of pollen grains present in a sample can also be skewed by factors such as the orientation of the site and the nature of the pollen grains themselves, for example, trees such as pine produce much greater quantities of pollen than species such as oak and thus have a tendency to overrepresent themselves in the pollen record. Once collected the pollen is extracted from the soil, usually in the laboratory to avoid contamination, and analysed using a light, or scanning electron microscope (SEM). The wide differentiation in the size, shape and colour of the pollen grains enables identification to be made down to genera level. Following identification, the individual exines in a sub-set of the sample are quantified and plotted on a pollen analysis diagram, usually as a percentage of the whole.

Epitaph on Me Essay

Epitaphs are clear reflections of the life that individuals went through. The experiences mentioned may either be good or bad. However, these experiences greatly affected the way I perceived life, and how I would react towards the numerous things that happen around me. Thinking about how I lived my life made me ponder on how people would remember me even if I have left this earth. I have decided that my epitaph would sound something like this: â€Å"I swam across the sea Paddling for victory, Massive shark on the way Started an entirely different story. † Writing epitaphs is an important part of any individual’s life. I wanted my epitaph to be simple, yet amusing and could showcase the life that I lived. For starters, I was born in St. Louis Missouri in STATE YEAR and was raised in a poor neighborhood. I grew up in an environment where I had to learn the realities of life at such a young age. I was a product of a broken family, with my mother single-handedly raising me and my other siblings. I lived with poverty for seventeen years, before I was given the opportunity to join the United States Navy. Being in the service allowed me to become appreciative of the numerous blessings I receive every day. Poverty never came as a hindrance for me to become someone in society, for I was given the rare opportunity to serve my country and my countrymen. All of the experiences mentioned above played an important role in writing my epitaph. The first line which states, â€Å"I swam across the sea† is both literal and metaphorical in meaning. Swimming across the sea is not as easy as it may seem, and this may be compared to the difficulty I experienced as I grew up. As mentioned earlier, I came from a poor family, with my mother being the only one sufficing for our needs. Like swimming the sea, it was not easy to go through life-much hard work and dedication were needed in order to succeed. The second line which states â€Å"Paddling for victory† shows the degree of determination and hard work I was willing to give in order to become successful with my life. I grew up not having much, and being accepted at the United States Navy was my chance to rise up from poverty. Such led me to choose the word â€Å"paddling† to represent the difficulties and challenges that my family and I went through in life. Paddling was normally done in the sea, and was not an easy task for anyone, especially when done in the middle of the sea. The sea was vast and wide –some would give up trying to get to the other side of the â€Å"paddled† boat, trying to fight the hard current. Furthermore, I also attributed my experiences in life as the â€Å"sea†, which was vast and unpredictable. Although I was not financially secured as the others, I was given the equal treatment of making it big in the United States through my acceptance in the United States Navy. â€Å"Paddling for victory† was not a one shot deal – it entailed much from the paddler in order to be successful in life. Like my personal life, I wanted to make sure that I would be able to accomplish much, and become the best individual that I can be. Furthermore, â€Å"paddling† may also be used as the term that best describes my life in the US Navy. Every time I was deployed, I was putting my life on the line; and similar to my epitaph, I was â€Å"paddling for victory. † Such line was applicable to the life I had in the navy, for I had to make sure that I was able to fulfill my duties, while caring for my own life.

Essay on Sassoons Use of Irony in Glory of Women - 626 Words

Sassoons Use of Irony in Glory of Women The role of women during the Great War has been portrayed in many different ways in literature. They are seen as factory workers, nurses who saved soldierà ­s lives, sweethearts and relatives to label just a few. In Glory of Women, Siegfried Sassoon makes ample use of irony within the structure and the content in order to portray his view of the role of the young, working, British woman during this time period. Sassoons use of irony can first be seen in the structure of the poem itself. A superficial glance at the poem shows that it is written in fourteen lines, making it appear as a sonnet. A closer look at the structure, however, shows that Glory of Women is in the†¦show more content†¦The sestet (containing the rhyme scheme efggfe), on the other hand, focuses on Sasssons bitterness over the fact that their admiration is conditional and does not apply for defeated soldiers. In addition to this, he replaces the rhyming couplet used in the English sonnet to summarize the intention of the sonnet with the last three lines of the sestet, marked off by margins that are different from the rest of the poem. Not only does Sassoon make use of irony in order to create this hybrid form of the sonnet, but he also uses it within the content of the poem. For example, the bitter tone of the poem is far from the doting tone commonly seen in the traditional sonnet, which is usually used to write about love. On the contrary, Sassoon depicts these soldiers sweethearts in the workforce as capricious hypocrites with misguided ideation about the heroics of war. Not only do their sympathies lie only with the soldiers who are heroes, who do not retire when hells last horror breaks them, but also when their wounds occur in a mentionable place(Sassoon, 132). They see the war as romantic, full of danger and chivalry when, in reality, it is full of trampling corpses, horror, and blood (Ibid.). There is further irony within the aforementioned last three lines. These lines leave the reader with the final image of a devoted, German soldiers mother knitting by a fire. This image is a stark juxtaposition from the image ofShow MoreRelatedThe Death Of The Trenches904 Words   |  4 PagesWhen it came time to enlist in the war, young men were ecstatic about becoming heroes by the act of serving their country. Although, in reality these men did not know the consequences that came with their life changing decision to go into combat. Sassoon’s â€Å"Suicide in the Trenches† exposes the psychological issues that overwhelmed one soldier in particular, but as the reader, it is clear that the feelings described belong to any soldier that ever felt the wrath of the war. The first stanza paints a