POLLEN ANALYSIS AT THE KIB-RIDGE YAMPA SITE, NORTHWESTERN COLORADO

Stratigraphic pollen analysis was undertaken at the Kib Ridge-Yampa site to provide a
description of local vegetation at the time of Paleo Indian occupation. Dates ranging from 11,290
± 80 to 10,260 ± 90 BP have been returned for Contexts 15 through 4, representing human
occupation. The vegetation record would be used to infer differences between the climate at that
time and the present. The stratigraphic record was anticipated to represent the interval from the
Paleo Indian occupation until an unspecified time in the past. Deposition appears to have stopped,
rather than continued until the present. The pollen record might be able to help identify the
approximate time represented by the upper portion of the pollen record. In addition to the work
specified in our proposal, this study also examined a model of past climate for this area. The
model was compared with the pollen record for the late Pleistocene and early Holocene to provide
more clarity in interpreting past climatic conditions.