POLLEN AND MACROFLORAL ANALYSIS OF SAMPLES FROM SITES IN THE LISBON VALLEY, UTAH

Samples from sites 42Sa22846, 42Sa22859, 42Sa22862, and 48Sa22864 in the Lisbon Valley of southeast Utah were examined for pollen and macrofloral remains. Pollen and macrofloral samples were recovered from upper and bottom levels of fill in one of two adjoining slab-lined cists at 42Sa22846, from fill of both a slab-lined roasting pit and an inner slab-lined pit at 42Sa22859, from fill of a possible unprepared hearth at 42Sa22862, and from fill in a stone circle that might represent a pine cone storage feature at 42Sa22864. Pinch samples were collected from the site surfaces to serve as pollen controls. These sites are part of a group of archaeological sites referred to as the “Lisbon Gap Site Cluster” located on a low knob along the eastern slope of the Lisbon Valley. Charred material from the slab-lined roasting pit at 42Sa22859 returned a date of 820 ± 30 BP (Beta-317995), while the inner slab-lined pit within this feature yielded a date of 330 ± 30 BP (Beta-317994). By comparison, a date of 2810 ± 30 BP (Beta-317996) was returned for charred material from the possible unprepared hearth at 42Sa22862. Pollen and macrofloral analyses were performed to identify plant resources available to and utilized by the various occupants of these sites.