POLLEN, PHYTOLITH, AND STARCH ANALYSIS OF SAMPLES FROM SITE 41HE338, HENDERSON COUNTY, TEXAS

Site 41HE338, located northeast of Poynor in southeastern Henderson County, Texas, occupies an ecotone between the Pineywoods and Post Oak Savanna ecological regions of East/Northeast Texas. Situated on a generally level Pleistocene strath terrace above Caddo Creek at an elevation of approximately 137 m (450 ft) above mean sea level (amsl) and approximately 15 m (50 ft) above the Caddo Creek floodplain, this site has been occupied intermittently since the Paleoindian period. Radiocarbon dates indicate occupations primarily during the Middle and Late Archaic periods and the early portion of the Late Caddo Frankston Phase (AD 1400–1480) (Christopher Goodmaster, personal communication March 2016). Three sherds and three pieces of ground stone were submitted for a combination of pollen, phytolith, and starch analyses. Pollen and starch analysis of ground stone washes were undertaken to provide evidence of grinding, while pollen, phytolith, and starch analysis of food crusts from three Early Frankston sherds were examined to provide a record that combines environmental and food signatures.