PALINOLOGY OF THE FLORA IN THE AREA OF INFLUENCE OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL
SITE OF SALAPUNKU, HISTORICAL SANCTUARY OF MACHUPICCHU, CUSCO
Melanie O. Moriano Huillca
Abstract
Pollen grains present a great morphological diversity typical of each taxonomic group. Therefore, it is important in
taxonomic and application studies such as paleoenvironmental reconstructions and the interrelationship that existed
between man and plants, and their ecosystem. The present work was developed in the surroundings of the Archaeological
Site of Salapunku, framed within the Historic Sanctuary of Machupicchu, and its purpose is to characterize the flora
palynologically and establish a reference base for subsequent studies to be carried out in this area. The palynological
material was obtained between the months of September to December 2019 and February to March 2020 from the
collection of specimens. Fifty-one botanical species were palynologically characterized using the Erdtman acetolysis
technique. The most predominant palynological characters according to the type of grain are monads, radial symmetry,
isopolar, prolato-spheroidal shape, semi-angular and circular scope, medium size, tricolporate opening and reticulated
ornamentation. It was concluded that the evaluated families retain fixity of the morphological characters that are useful
for their identification. On the contrary, the Ericaceae family presents a variety of palynological characters that make it
difficult to know the identity of the pollen grains.
Keywords: Palynology, pollen grains, palynological descriptors, Salapunku Archaeological Site, Machupicchu Historic
Sanctuary
Introduction
Palynology is the science that studies the palynomorphs, being the most dominant: the pollen grain, which
presents a great variety of pollen types and fixity of the morphological characters, therefore, it allows
revealing the taxonomic groups from which they come ( Saenz, 1978; Halbritter et al., 2018). In recent
years, palynology has represented a fundamental tool that has been integrated into different
multidisciplinary fields such as plant systematics, plant genetics, ecology, medicine, geology, climatology,
and archeology (Mercado, 2013; Velasquez, 1999). Likewise, the extensive knowledge about the morphology
of pollen grains and their subsequent palynological analysis will allow increasing the level of resolution in
the process of identifying them (Soejarto and Fonnegra, 1972; Uribe and Fonnegra, 1979; Sánchez, Sosa and
Lozano , 2009, Garcia et al., 2011); resulting in a more specific understanding of the particularities of the
vegetation and an approximation of the climate that is established in a given place.
Currently, there are few efforts dedicated to the study of palynological characterization of botanical
species; therefore, the applied palynological studies in our environment do not have a reference material
that allows to satisfactorily identify the pollen samples found in works that use pollen as an instrument for
the knowledge and interpretation of a certain area.
The present work was developed in the surroundings of the Archaeological Site of Salapunku and its
purpose is to characterize the flora palynologically, this will allow to demonstrate the existence of a great
diversity in sizes, shapes and characteristics of each taxonomic group and contribute to the knowledge to
be able to understand the interrelation that existed between man and plants, and their ecosystem in the
Archaeological Site of Salapunku.
Methodology
Through the use of satellite images and the physiographic map of the area
where the Salapunku Archaeological Site is located, the points for the
collection of botanical samples were randomly established.
The botanical samples in bloom were collected during the months of
September to December 2019 and February to March 2020; likewise, the
largest number of flower buds was obtained. The herborization, assembly
and taxonomic determination were carried out in the facilities of the
Herbarium Vargas CUZ - Faculty of Sciences, Professional School of Biology.
Finally, in the laboratory of the Center for Research and Production of Food
Figure 1: Location map of the study area.
and Medicinal Fungi - CIPHAM, the modified Acetolysis method of Erdtman
(1960) was applied for the treatment of pollen samples, likewise, they were
analyzed and photographed through the use of a ZEISS model optical
microscope at 1000x magnification, the photographs and measurements
were made with the Top view program.
The data analysis fundamentally followed the terminology of Erdtman (1952),
Halbritter (2018), Sáenz (1978) and the glossary of terms used in
palynological descriptions Punt et al. (2007). Figure 2: Elevation profile of sampling points
adapted from Malizia et al. 2020.
UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE SAN ANTONIO ABAD DEL CUSCO
Results
The morphology of 51 species of flora from the area of influence of the Archaeological Site of Salapunku,
Historic Sanctuary of Machupicchu, Cusco, was characterized palynologically. According to qualitative
palynological descriptors (Sáenz, 1978; Halbritter et al., 2018), the predominant palynological character
is the monad type with 96%; the predominant polarity and symmetry is isopolar with 73% and radial
with 80% respectively, the prolato-spheroidal shape was present in most species, in terms of scope,
48% of pollen grains are semi-angular and 33 % it is circular; 51% of the pollen grains are of medium
size, 48% of the position of openings is tricolporate and 44% of the ornamentation of the pollen grains
is reticulate.
In the present work, the families Acanthaceae, Alstroemeriaceae, Amaryllidaceae, Apiaceae,
Bromeliaceae, Calceolariaceae and Onagraceae, have a fixity of the morphological characters and, in
addition, showed that there are families with homogeneous characters, so that significant differences
are only appreciated at the generic and said diagnostic characteristics are sufficiently relevant for the
specific delimitation between the analyzed taxa. For the Anacardiaceae, Araliaceae, Asteraceae,
Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae and Solanaceae families, a wide variability was found, but it retains some fixed
characters useful for its identification. On the contrary, the Ericaceae family presents a variety of
palynological characters that make its identification difficult.
4
3 5 6
. 13
7
9 10
11
8
12
17
14
16 18
15
19
20 21
22
23
26
24 25
27
28 29 30 31
Figure 3 Aphelandra formosa (Humb. & Bonpl.) Nees, Figure 4 Dicliptera acuminata (Ruiz & Pav.) Juss. vel sp.aff, Figure 5 Bomarea
formosissima (Ruiz & Pav.), Figure 6 Ismene sp., Figure 7 Nothoscordum andicola Kunth, Figure 8 y 9 Mauria ferruginea Tul., Figure 10 y 11
Oreopanax cuspidatus Harms, Figure 12 y 13 Begonia veitchii Hook. f. Figura 14 Viguiera procumbens (Pers.) S.F. Blake, Figure 15 Berberis
humbertiana J.F.Macbr. Figure 16 Calceolaria procera Pennell. Figure 17 Coriaria ruscifolia L. Figure 18 Bejaria aestuans Mutis ex L. Figura 19
Apurimacia boliviana (Britton) Lavin. Figure 20 y 21 Collaea speciosa (Loisel. Figure 22 y 23Crotalaria incana L. Figure 24 Lathyrus magellanicus Lam.
Figure 25 y 26 Lupinus sp. Figure 27 Nicotiana tomentosa Ruiz & Pav. Figure 28 y 29 Solanum acuminatum Ruiz & Pav. Figure 30 y 31 Solanum sp 3.
Conclutions
Through this work, it is concluded that the botanical families Solanaceae and Fabaceae are the
families that presented the greatest number of species, which shows that these families are
representative to establish the fixed palynological characters for future applied palynological
studies. Likewise, according to the description of the pollen morphology of 51 species of flora in the
study area, it is concluded that the vast majority of families retain fixed characters, useful for their
identification; however, the Ericaceae family showed differences in symmetry, shape, opening and
ornamentation that made it difficult to know the identity of the pollen grains.
Acknowledgements
To the Universidad San Antonio Abad del Cusco and to each of my teachers at the Professional School
of Biology. To my thesis advisor, Dr. Maria Holgado Encarnación for her support and guidance during
the development of this thesis. And for facilitating the use of the facilities of the Center for Research
and Production of Food and Medicinal Mushrooms - CIPHAM. To the Mgt. Gloria Calatayud, co-advisor,
for her support and motivation to develop the topic. To the Blga. Maria Ochoa, Director of the Vargas
CUZ Herbarium, for allowing me access to the herbarium facilities to review the botanical samples.
Al Mgt. Abel Monteagudo for his support in determining the botanical species, as well as his confidence
and constant guidance during the development of this work.