POLLEN AND MACROFLORAL ANALYSES AT 320L270, A TIPI RING SITE IN WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA

A tipi ring site, 320L270, located at the Glenharold Mine south of
Stanton, North Dakota, was the subject of archaeological mitigation. Pollen
and macrofloral samples were taken during the course of the excavation in an
effort to provide subsistence information. The site is located within the
Missouri River Breaks physiographic zone on a low finger ridge approximately
100 feet below the upland terrace. The site is bordered on the east by a
wooded ravine containing a spring and on the west by a steep escarpment
(Gene Munson, personal communication, October 1983 and Lynn Fredlund,
personal communication, February 1984) The Missouri River is deeply
entrenched in this area, and flows approximately 1000 feet below the upland
terrace. Archaeological sites tend to be clustered near the springs and
wooded draws of the Missouri River Breaks. The vegetation at the site is
typical of a grassland environment containing wheatgrasses, grama grasses,
panicum, bluegrasses, sand dropseed, Canada wildrye, and sedges, as well as
a variety of annual and perennial forbs. Wooded areas including deciduous
woodlands, tall shrublands, and low shrublands are noted in the drainages
(Consolidation Coal Company and Stoecher-Keammerer and Associates 1982).
The Little Missouri Grasslands, located approximately 100 miles to the west
of this site, contains hills supporting pine and juniper.