The 1988 excavation of the area in Newark included the Saxon defences provided an important hance for finding well-dated remains from this period. The rampart would seal the old ground surface, and any environmental material preserved there could well be important. The first possibility was for information from pollen preserved in the old soil layers, if the sands and gravel had not become too neutral from urban deposits containing mortar. The second possibilty was shown by the initial samples which showed that some charred remains were present as well. The samples consisted of rather silty ad sandy material which broke down easily in water. 1 litre was measured out by water displacement in a 2 litre beaker, and the organic material including charred remains washed over into the sieve. The mainly inorganic residue was dried and washed over again to check whether anything more would separate, but it appeareed that the original washover was adequate. Almost all the remains were charred. 3 pollen samples were prepared and were counted. They were from depths of 25, 50, and 75cm. Pollen analysis was not particularly successful. Macrofossils: There were rather few plant remains in the samples examined, less than 10 per litre of sediment, mostly charred seeds with quantities of charcoal besides. One context from the Saxon rampart had the richest flora consisting rather badly preserved charred grain and cornfield weeds, and a sloe stone fragment. There were also some uncharred seeds. The flora of the other samples were essentially similar, with grain, weeds, and a few other things. Such material seems to have been charred by rapid heating judging by the puffed apperance, so the remains seem to have come from fire ash, whether domestic or otherwise. The plant remains are probably 'background' relating to the rampart material, or perhaps earlier remains dug up when it was built, and alos relating to the medieval occupation. The most-frequently identified cereal Hordeum (barley) may represent fodder rather than food for humans. The uncharred seeds of violet and elder might be contemporary with the charred remains, or they could have fallen down from above through the cracks and wormholes in the soil. Pollen Analysis: The 25cm and 75cm samples contained scarcely any pollen apart from a few battered Liguliflorae (a group including dandelions and other yellow-flowered composites), which usually persist because they are the thickest-walled pollen grains. The 50cm sample had more varied flora (although dominated by Liguliflorae). There were also some cereal pollen grains, a Centaurea cyanus (cirnflower), Cruciferae, Umbelliferae, Ranunculus, and Gramineae. The only trees present were Betula (birch) and Alnus (alder). This spectrum corresponds somewhat to the picture obtained from the charred remains, which also contained mainly cereals and cornfield weed remains. The larger amount of pollen at this level may be because the material was part of the old soil surface, or associated pollen-rich layers. Ramparts can be very useful agents for preserving ancient land surfaces complete with features. The Newark material despite the early promise of finds contained very few plant remains. This is not really surprising, because even on a buried land surface one would be lucky to be able to find concentrations of preserved plant remains such as camp fireplaces, and nothing of the kind could be seen during the excavations at Newark. What they have, then, is a small glimpse of some Anglo-Saxon crops and environment, which certainly advances knowledge, if not as much as might have been hoped. Pollen from ramparts and associated land surfaces has usefully been studied at Chester (Roman rampart) and Worcester (Saxon rampart). At theses sites the pollen has been abundant and fairly well-preserved, in contrast to that found at Newark. The relative lack of pollen at Newark may be partly due to less suitable preservation conditions, and maybe the old soil surface was either removed, or it contained less pollen than at the other two sies mentioned. The bulk of rampart material would not to be expected to contain a lot of pollen, if it was made up from subsoil, and there was no sign that it had been made up with turves.