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.针对美国新墨西哥州东南部LA 169200遗址的一处管道非法侵入区域内，从路基中采集的、混有炭屑的火山灰充填沉积物，开展了大植物遗存（macrofloral remains）检测分析。本次采集样品中提取的炭屑碎片，被送往加速器质谱仪放射性碳定年（AMS radiocarbon dating）检测。该遗址为一处分散的地表遗物散布区，共关联5处火塘遗迹（hearth features），遗迹内包含烧裂砾石（fire-cracked rock）与石制遗物（lithic artifacts）。从该遗址出土的5件诊断性投射尖状器（diagnostic projectile points）中，4件属于古风期（Archaic period，公元前3500年-前2300年）类型，剩余1件诊断性投射尖状器为福尔瑟姆（Folsom）型，对应古印第安时期（Paleo-Indian time period，公元前14000年-前8000年）。大植物遗存分析（macrofloral analysis）可用于获取该遗址先民所利用的植物相关信息，而加速器质谱仪放射性碳定年法（AMS radiocarbon dating）则可为该遗迹提供年代关联依据。