MACROFLORAL, POLLEN, PHYTOLlTH, AND PROTEIN RESIDUE ANALYSIS OF MATERIAL FROM FRANKTOWN CAVE, SITE 5DA272, COLORADO

Franktown Cave is a large rockshelter in Douglas County, Colorado, that experienced
multiple occupations from at least the Middle Archaic through the Protohistoric periods. A large
amount of material has been collected in the cave from five separate excavations dating to the
1940s, 1950s, and 1976 including chipped stone artifacts; ground stone; potsherds; perishable
artifacts such as fiber, hide, bone, and wood; and ecofacts such as com, other plant remains,
animal bone, shell, and wood. A portion of the perishable artifacts and ecofacts were submitted
to Paleo Research Institute for identification, including wood, charcoal, botanic remains, basket
fragments, sandal fragments, and others. Some of these remains were digested with bleach to
liberate phytoliths and calcium oxalate crystals to aid in identification. Five manos
(groundstone) were washed for pollen to determine plants processed using these tools. Pieces
of hide were subjected to protein residue analysis and hairs, where present, were identified.