MACROFLORAL ANALYSIS AND AMS RADIOCARBON DATING OF SEDIMENT FROM SITE LA 169200, NEW MEXICO

Sediment from an area of ashy fill mixed with charcoal pulled from the road bed in an area of a pipeline trespass at site LA 169200 in southeastern New Mexico was examined for macrofloral remains. Charcoal fragments recovered from the sample were submitted for AMS radiocarbon dating. This site is a dispersed surface artifact scatter with five associated hearth features containing fire-cracked rock and lithic artifacts. Four of the five diagnostic projectile points recovered from this site appear to represent Archaic forms (3500-2300 B.C.), while a single diagnostic appears to be a “Folsom”-type representing the Paleo-Indian time period (14000-8000 B.C.). Macrofloral analysis is used to provide information concerning plants utilized by the occupants of the site, and AMS radiocarbon dating provides a temporal association for the feature.