MICROSCOPIC EXAMINATION OF POLLEN, PHYTOLlTH, AND STARCH REMOVED FROM POVERTY POINT OBJECTS, POVERTY POINT, LOUISIANA

Poverty Point Objects are "hand-molded backed clay cooking objects" (Gibson 1999:2).
Because the area around Poverty Point contained few rocks, Poverty Point Objects are thought to
have been used much like rocks that are heated and used to heat or boil foods in a container.
Thirteen Poverty Point Objects and one steatite fragment were examined for pollen, phytoliths, and
starches that might point to foods cooked using Poverty Point Objects as heat sources. In addition,
two pollen samples were examined from an A-horizon underlying the constructed ridge at a depth
of 128 cm and from undifferentiated midden at a depth of 40-50 cmbs at the interface of the
midden and the constructed ridge.