POLLEN, PHYTOLITH, STARCH, MACROFLORAL, PROTEIN, AND ORGANIC RESIDUE (FTIR) ANALYSES AND AMS RADIOCARBON AGE DETERMINATION OF SAMPLES FROM THE OLD PLACE NECK SITE, STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK

Samples from the Old Place Neck Site (A08501.002971) on Staten Island, New York, were submitted to undergo various analyses including charcoal identification and AMS radiocarbon dating, as well as phytolith, starch, pollen, protein residue, and/or organic residue (FTIR) analysis, the latter using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). One ceramic sherd, accompanied by a soil control sample, was examined for evidence of food processing using pollen, phytolith, and starch analysis. Remnants associated with the Old Place Neck Site reflect multiple occupation episodes associated with short-term encampments. Previously obtained radiocarbon dates suggest that the site was inhabited between the Late Archaic through the Late Woodland and Contact periods (ca. 6000 to 350 B.P.), while a Dalton point associated with the site assemblage suggests the site was occupied as early as the late PaleoIndian/Early Archaic period (ca. 9000 B.P.). Radiocarbon dates obtained in this study on identified charcoal provide additional temporal information on site occupation, while analyses of soil samples and artifacts are expected to identify subsistence practices and potentially the seasonality of site visits.