POLLEN AND MACROFLORAL ANALYSIS OF A SOIL COLUMN FROM KELVIN'S CAVE (SITE 10LN93), SOUTH-CENTRAL IDAHO, COMPARED TO A LOCAL ARCHAEOCLIMATIC MODEL

Companion pollen and macrofloral samples were collected stratigraphically from Unit 4
inside Kelvin's Cave (10LN93), a lava tube, to provide information concerning local vegetation
and environment in the vicinity of the cave during the time it was used and sediment
accumulated. Bone recovered from the deepest sediments in Kelvin's Cave, just above the
cave floor in units immediately adjacent to Unit 10, have yielded radiocarbon ages ranging
between 12,160 ± 60 BP to 16,260 ± 80 BP, suggesting that the stratigraphic record should
represent the Late Pleistocene through the Holocene. Of particular interest is the terminal
Pleistocene to early Holocene transition. In addition to examining the stratigraphic record for
pollen and macrofloral remains, an archaeoclimatic model was built to examine modeled
climatic conditions in the area for the past 14,000 years. The information gained from
examining the pollen and macrofloral samples is then compared with the model to provide a
more complete picture of the past environment.