PROTEIN RESIDUE ANALYSIS FOR SAMPLES FROM SITES LA 37155, LA 37127, LA 37130, LA 37156, LA 37175, AND LA 162325, FORT BLISS MILITARY RESERVATION, NEW MEXICO

A total of 15 stone artifacts that included stones from rock-lined pits, plane scrapers and agave knives were submitted for protein residue analysis from several Archaic and Formative period sites located within the Fort Bliss Military Reservation. Previous to this study, burned limestone rocks were submitted to PaleoResearch for organic (FTIR) analysis from these same sites, as well as from a few other sites in the general area (Logan 2010). FTIR analysis was successful in detecting plant residues on these artifacts. The objective of the current analysis is to detect plant and animal protein residues on the 15 stone artifacts using cross-over immunoelectrophoresis (CIEP). Matches with known antisera using CIEP can have greater taxonomic resolution than FTIR analysis; however, potential matches are limited to the available antiserum.