PHYTOLITH AND POLLEN ANALYSIS AND IDENTIFICATION OF SEEDS FROM THE SENTINEL GAP SITE (45KT1362), WASHINGTON

A total of ten sediment samples were submitted for phytolith analysis from the Sentinel Gap site (45KT1362), located in Kittitas County, south-central Washington. Previously, a preliminary study was conducted by PaleoResearch to test the potential for pollen and phytolith recovery from site 45KT1362 (PRI Technical Report 07-114). The data from the two preliminary phytolith and pollen samples and the ten new phytolith samples were combined and are presented together in this report. Eight of the samples were derived from a single human occupation surface with an average date of 10,200 RCYBP (11,900 cal BP). Four of the samples were derived from buried soil A-horizons that span a period from 13,160 cal BP to 11,900 cal BP. In this report, phytolith and pollen analyses are used 1) to provide subsistence information concerning plant resources utilized by the occupants of the sites and 2) to examine the paleoenvironment and the possibility of environmental change between the time prior to and during the occupation of the site.