Old mud bricks focus of research

Phoebe Shaw
Phoebe Shaw
Phoebe Shaw wants to make holes in some of Central Otago's oldest dwellings - but only small ones.

The University of Otago honours geography student is planning to take core samples from mud-brick homes up to 150 years old and analyse the tiny pollen grains trapped inside to determine how the region's vegetation has changed since pre-European days.

Mud bricks were usually made with soil from the immediate area, including any pollens which might have been in the soil at the time.

To complete her study, she requires access to mud-brick houses which are still standing, or to a whole brick from a ruined building.

She said this week she would like at least five bricks.

"I would like to try and keep it contained to the Central Otago area, or wherever I can get permission to take samples."

The sample process was "fairly uninvasive", Ms Shaw said.

It involved using a soil corer 2cm-4cm in diameter and inserting it 10cm-20cm into the side of a house or brick.

The hole would be filled afterwards.

Ms Shaw (22) said while the pollen-sampling technique had been widely used with mud bricks on overseas archaeological sites, she believed she was the first person to analyse mud bricks in this country.

The idea came from her supervisor, Prof Richard Morgan.

"He found some mud bricks at the Alexandra dump and suggested I look for pollen in them. It sounded like a fantastic research subject so I agreed."

The core samples taken from the Alexandra bricks had already revealed several different varieties of pollen.

Ms Shaw said she had not yet analysed them - a process which involved mounting them individually on slides, examining them under a microscope and establishing what plants they were from by matching them to examples in botany textbooks.

She said she expected the information she uncovered would be of interest to geographers, and to anyone interested in history or native vegetation.

"It could be interesting for people looking at riparian [water way] planting, or those wanting to restore historic vegetation."

Ms Shaw can be contacted at shaph263@student.otago.ac.nz

 

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