Hyrax middens contain well-preserved micro plant material including pollen, which is sealed in middens by hyraceum, protecting it from microbial activity and decay. The earliest study of fossil pollen from a hyrax midden was undertaken in the late 1950s by Pons and Quézel. in the Hoggar Massif of Algeria, whereas the first palynological analyses of southern African middens were undertaken during the late 1980s and early 1990s, and demonstrated that hyrax middens are very useful as pollen and microfossil traps. Subsequently, hyrax middens have been become an important archive for fossil pollen analysis in South Africa and Namibia. Studies of fossil pollen in hyrax middens have also been undertaken in Jordan Ethiopia, Yemen and Oman