IDENTIFICATION OF CHARCOAL AND BOTANIC REMAINS, PHYTOLITH AND STARCH ANALYSIS OF GROUNDSTONE SAMPLES AND AMS RADIOCARBON DATING OF MATERIALS FROM THE YELLOWHOUSE SYSTEM, AMPHITHEATER SITE, POST RANCH, AND STANTON RANCH, TEXAS, AND FROM THE SAN JON RESEARCH AREA, NEW MEXICO

A total of 845 samples from the Yellowhouse System, Post Ranch, and Stanton Ranch near Lubbock, Texas, were submitted for identification. These samples consisted mostly of charcoal, wood, and botanic remains. In addition, five charcoal samples were submitted from the San Jon Research Area near San Jon, New Mexico. Samples were recovered from geologic strata at the Yellowhouse System and from cultural features contained within the strata, while the Post and Stanton Ranches are noted to have considerable aeolian deposits with no defined stratigraphic framework. Samples were collected from the surface and from hearth features at these sites. Archaeological material from the San Jon research area is associated with late Quaternary sediments filling a younger playa cut into an older, larger basin. Samples were recovered from a hearth and a stratum. An additional set of 198 charcoal and botanic samples, and nine groundstone artifacts recovered from non-feature contexts at the Amphitheater site (41LU118) in Yellowhouse Draw, were submitted for identification and phytolith and starch analysis, respectively.