POLLEN AND PHYTOLITH ANALYSIS AT 5WL1813, THE EHRLICH BURIALS, COLORADO

Two burials were excavated at the Ehrlich Site (5WL1813) on a terrace slope
approximately 200 yards west of the present South Platte River in Weld County,
Colorado. Secondary bundle burials were placed in small shallow pits after
defleshing. Ihe South Platte River may have flowed approximately within 100 feet
of the burial site at the time these bodies were buried. Both the male and
female are represented, and burial goods were recovered only with the female.
Style of kurial and archaeological materials recovered indicate an Early to Mid-
Plains Woodland cultural affiliation for both burials. Secondary burble
interments were common in the Early Plains Woodland, and these two burials join
seven other similar interments, making a known population of nine secondary
bundle burials recovered along the South Platte River in northeastern Colorado.
Pollen and phytolith analyses were undertaken fran these burials to determine
what, if any, plants may have been placed within the burials, as well as to
identify local vegetation at the time of burial and substantiate presence of a
riparian vegetation community on a floodplain that may well have been closer to
the site of burial than the present South Platte River.