POLLEN AND MACROFLORAL ANALYSIS AT SITES ALONG NAVAJO ROUTE 9(5-1), MCKINLEY COUNTY, NEW MEXICO

Soil samples from Sites NM-Q-13-50 (LA 32992), NM-Q-13-53, NM-Q-13-54 (LA 89900),
and NM-Q-13-55 were floated to recover charred macrofloral remains, while samples from
features at NM-Q-12-71 were analyzed for both pollen and macrofloral remains. These sites
were identified in portions of the right-of-way along Navajo Route 9(5-1) in the Chuska Valley
of northwest New Mexico, and represent a Chacoan outlier community and a road leading to that
community. The five sites are believed to date to the Formative period of occupation in the area
(including Anasazi Pueblo I to Pueblo ll-lll), with a possible Archaic component also present at
Site NM-Q-13-50. At this stage of testing, the objective is to determine whether pollen and
macrofloral remains can be recovered from individual sites. Pollen and macrofloral analyses will
be used to help determine the potential for recovering cultural material at these sites that can
be used to address the general research topics of environmental reconstruction, subsistence,
and mobility-sedentism and land use.