POLLEN AND MACROFLORAL ANALYSIS OF SAMPLES FROM THE CATACOMBS CURVE SITE, 26CK4943, NEVADA

Pollen and macrofloral samples were examined from the fill of a discrete ash lense in the side-wall of an incised wash at the Catacombs Curve site (26Ck4943) in southwest Nevada to determine if the feature is natural or cultural in origin. A control sample from unit fill also was examined. The Catacombs Curve site is an open, ceramic period artifact scatter located in the Newberry Mountains near the eroded granitic rock formation known as the “Catacombs”. The site is identified as ancestral Yuman (lowland Patayan), based on location near the lower Colorado River and the presence of Lower Colorado type ceramics. Occupation is estimated to have occurred between AD 500 and 1900.本次研究对内华达州西南部Catacombs Curve遗址（编号26Ck4943）一处侵蚀冲沟侧壁内的离散灰透镜体堆积中的孢粉与大植物遗存样本开展了检测分析，以判定该堆积特征的成因属于自然成因还是人为成因。同时还对探方堆积的对照样本进行了检测分析。Catacombs Curve遗址是一处开放式陶文化期遗物散布点，坐落于纽贝里山脉（Newberry Mountains）内，毗邻被称为"地下墓穴（Catacombs）"的侵蚀花岗岩地层。根据其地处科罗拉多河下游附近且出土有科罗拉多河下游型陶器这两点，该遗址被认定为尤马先民（低地帕塔扬人，lowland Patayan）的活动遗存。经估算，该遗址的人类活动年代介于公元500年至1900年之间。