POLLEN ANALYSIS AT THE DUST DEVIL GORGE MEDICINE WHEEL SITE, 5MF 3687, NORTHWESTERN COLORADO

This Paleoindian and Early Archaic site, occupied during the Late Pleistocene and Early
Holocene, contained a medicine wheel. Control pollen samples were collected and examined
from four areas supporting different vegetation to establish pollen signatures for these areas that
would assist in interpreting the prehistoric record. Four samples were collected beneath rocks
of the medicine wheel in an effort to find pollen associated with the Paleoindian occupation and
characterize the local vegetation and possibly identify activities associated with the medicine
wheel.

该古印第安文化期（Paleoindian）与早古风期（Early Archaic）遗址的人类占据时段覆盖晚更新世（Late Pleistocene）至早全新世（Early Holocene），遗址内留存有一座药轮（medicine wheel）。研究人员从植被类型各异的四个区域采集并分析了对照花粉样品，以建立对应区域的花粉特征谱，辅助解读该遗址的史前考古记录。为探寻与古印第安人居留活动相关的花粉、明确当地植被特征，并识别与该药轮相关的人类活动，研究人员还在药轮的石块下方采集了四份样品。