ARCHAEOBOTANIC ANALYSIS OF SAMPLES FROM EAGLE POINT, COLORADO

Deposits within the Eagle Point Site (5RB4662), a rockshelter located along Piceance
Creek in northwest Colorado, were sampled stratigraphically at close intervals for the purpose
of building a detailed paleoenvironmental pollen record for this portion of Colorado. Although
the sampling model called for sampling at approximately 2 cm intervals, the intervals collected
varied because some levels were obviously unconsolidated and represented a single
depositional, non-cultural event. In this case, the sampling intervals were widened with fewer
samples collected. In some cases, cultural lenses dictated collecting samples at closer
intervals than 2 cm to obtain discrete samples of individual depositional events related to
cultural activity. This approach lead to examining 46 pollen samples over the space of 184 cm
of deposition. The people who lived at Eagle Point throughout the years were probably
occupants of the shelter and other areas, meaning that it is important to understand the
paleoenvironmental conditions for the area, not just this particular point. To facilitate this, an
archaeoclimatic model was created that postulates climatic conditions for the past 14,000
radiocarbon years for this general area. This will be compared to the detailed stratigraphic
pollen record as it unfolds to create a state-of-the-art paleoenvironmental record. A sample
from the massive charcoal layer also was floated to recover macrofloral remains. In addition,
fiber, eggshell, and macrofloral remains recovered during pollen sampling were submitted for
identification.