Pollen Analysis—The Right Way

The Shroud of Turin is not the only religious object that has been studied by palynologists. The Gondar Hanging, believed to be an 18th-century silk tapestry with Ethiopian Christian symbols, was purportedly carried off as booty when the British attacked Ethiopia in the mid-19th century. It was later purchased by George A. Sweny, a British colonel who moved to Canada in the late 1800s. In 1995, the Royal Ontario Museum, the current owner, decided to clean and restore the 17-by-7-foot tapestry.

Museum officials believed that an analysis of the pollen on the Gondar Hanging could shed light on its origins. They asked palynologist David Jarzen, then with the Canadian Museum of Nature, in Ottawa, and now with the Florida Museum of Natural History, in Gainesville, to conduct the study. Working in a sealed, contamination-free room, Jarzen used a sterile vacuum canister to collect pollen trapped on the hanging. Later, when the tapestry was lightly washed with a mild detergent, some of the runoff was saved so Jarzen could examine that for pollen as well.