POLLEN, PHYTOLITH, STARCH, PROTEIN (CIEP) AND ORGANIC RESIDUE (FTIR) ANALYSIS OF GROUND STONE SAMPLES FROM THE SPOTTED PONY SITE (5BL82), BOULDER COUNTY, COLORADO

The Spotted Pony site (5BL82) is an Early-Middle Archaic campsite situated in a small grassland clearing along the middle fork of the St. Vrain River in western Boulder County, Colorado. Dates for the site average to 5390 ± 25 RCYBP, placing it with the Mt. Albion complex of the middle Holocene period (Jason La Belle, personal communication February 23, 2015). A milling slab and handstone recovered from the site were submitted for pollen, phytolith, starch, protein residue (CIEP), and organic residue (FTIR) analyses to reconstruct subsistence activities associated with these ground stone tools. In addition, evidence of the local environmental signature was sought.