ABSTRACT. The pollen stratigraphy of a core extracted from Jenny Lake, southwest Yukon, in 1984 has marked archaeological significance. Five palynological zones are identified as follows: Zone JL1, the oldest (CU. 12 500-9500 B.P.), is a Betula shrub tundra assemblage; Zone JL2 (CU. 9500-8500 B.P.) an Alnus shrub tundra; Zone JL3 (CU. 8500-4500 B.P.) a Picea forest; Zone JL4 (CU. 4500-2000 B.P.) a Picea-Alnus woodland; and JL5 (CU. 2000 B.P.-present) a Picea forest. The widely held belief that the Kluane-Aishihik area of the SW Yukon was covered by extensive grasslands well into the Holocene period is not supported by the palynology of the Jenny Lake Core. Instead, palynological evidence suggests that the area, which initially was a Betula shrub tundra, then Alnus shrub tundra, became a Picea-dominated forest by approximately 8500 B.P. and remained forested to the present. The hypothesis stating early prehistoric hunters and gatherers in the SW Yukon were adapted to extensive Holocene grasslands until CU. 3300-2600 B.P. will have to be modified in view of these findings.

Aim In this paper, we explore the relationship between pollen concentration in surface soil and extant perennial vegetation across a rapidly urbanizing arid ecosystem along with its surrounding agricultural and native Sonoran Desert land. We also investigate whether taxa behave as expected from known pollination characteristics (e.g. anemophilous vs. zoophilous) and whether the pollen-plant relationship differs between the undeveloped desert and agro-urban regions.Location We used a probability-based sampling scheme at 200, 900-m 2 sites across the Central Arizona-Phoenix region, a 6400-km 2 area of the south-western USA.Methods Pollen-plant abundances were mapped across the study area using interpolation techniques, summary bar charts and scatterplots, then two statistical approaches were applied to examine the data quantitatively. Firstly, we used regression analysis of paired pollen concentration and plant cover data; secondly, pc-ord was used on a cross-matrix (contingency table) containing the presence/ absence scores of both pollen and plants for each taxon at each site. ResultsMapping and quantitative analysis revealed that pollen-plant relationships do vary both between anemophilous and zoophilous groupings and by individual taxon. They also revealed that distribution patterns of both pollen and plant abundance vary consistently across the three main landscape types (desert, urban, agricultural) and that pollen taxa groupings are consistent with pollination method and source plant distribution regardless of landscape type.Main conclusions These findings provide a broad range of comparative data to facilitate palynological reconstruction of past vegetation and aid in assessing types of prehistoric impacts on this vegetation. They also document that significant variation can occur in pollen rain across a city, even for taxa with widely distributed pollen, leading to the conclusion that forecasting pollen distribution patterns for allergy-related pollen types using only one or a few pollen traps is likely to entail substantial error.

Gambling-related harms are increasingly recognised as public health concerns internationally. One response is to improve identification of and support for those affected by gambling-related harms, including individuals who gamble and those close to them, 'affected others'. Adult social care services have been identified as a setting in which screening for gambling-related harms is suitable and desirable. To achieve this, a tool is required which can identify gambling-related harms experienced by individuals and affected others. This scoping review aimed to identify whether any brief (i.e. three questions or less) screening tools are being used and, if so, how brief screening for gambling-related harm is being implemented in health and social care-related contexts. An international English language scoping review of research and grey literature was undertaken between April and July 2021. The search included single-item and brief screening tools which have been developed to identify gambling-related harms for individuals and affected others across a range of health and social care-related contexts. Findings show that screening tools for gambling-related harms have been developed for use in health settings rather than in social care contexts. For example within gambling, mental health or substance misuse support services. We found no evidence of a brief or single-item screening tool for identifying harms to individuals and affected others which is of adequate quality to strongly recommend for use in an adult social care setting. Development of a validated brief or single-item screening tool is recommended to assist adult social care practitioners to effectively screen, identify, support and signpost people affected by gambling-related harms.

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The University of Saskatchewan Department of Archaeology & Anthropology became the first academic Department in Canada to publicly offer a Statement on Reconciliation. Most archaeologists recognize our colonial past and agree we need to expand our focus to incorporate better the thoughts, actions, and desires of the descendant communities of those who produced the material and nonmaterial remains we study. As a subdiscipline of archaeology, palaeoethnobotany with its emphasis on traditional plant use is well-positioned to engage fully with descendant communities. The Northern Plains would seem an ideal candidate for such research, given the rarity of existing palaeoethnobotanical research and the apparent absence of engaged research on medicinal plants. Current literature on the Northern Plains does include various ethnobotanical accounts, including discussion of plants with medicinal purposes. Though rare, there are also a few palaeoethnobotanical studies, which typically incorporate ethnobotanical data to aid interpretations. But what is lacking are clear attempts to bridge these sources of information; to conduct studies specifically designed through the coordinated efforts of Indigenous Knowledge Keepers and Healers with palaeoethnobotanists. We discuss how community-engaged scholarship of medicinal plants research on the Northern Plains may benefit both palaeoethnobotany and descendant communities.