POLLEN AND MACROFLORAL ANALYSIS AT SITES 35MA7, 35MA9, 35MA12, 35MA63, AND 35MA70 IN THE STATE STREET-NORTH SANTIAM HIGHWAY PROJECT, SALEM, OREGON

Soil samples from Sites 35MA7, 35MA9, 35MA63, 35MA70, and 35MA12 in the State
Street-North Santiam Highway project near Salem, Oregon, were sampled for macrofloral
remains. Charred botanic specimens also were submitted for identification. Pollen samples
were examined from features at Sites 35MA9, 35MA70, and 35MA 12. The five sites in the
project area currently are divided by highway interchange loops and ramps; however, these sites
are believed to represent a very large site complex used throughout the last 6000 years with
superimposed and overlapping activity areas of different ages. Features at these sites consist
mainly of rock-lined pit oven features. Radiocarbon dates and obsidian hydration analysis may
suggest near-exclusive early use of this area for camas bulb processing, with more recent use
as seasonal residence sites where a broader range of activities took place, including plant food
processing, lithic tool-making, and hunting. Pollen and macrofloral analyses are used to address
questions of subsistence activities involving plant food resources at these sites, including
comparison of remains by feature type and time period, as well as looking for patterns of
possible seasonality indicators (i.e., are larger ovens more commonly used later in the
summer/fall processing camas in quantity for winter storage is increasingly important?). This
report contains the results of both the 1996 and 1997 Data Recovery projects.