POLLEN, PHYTOLITH, MACROFLORAL, PROTEIN RESIDUE, FTIR ANALYSIS, AND AMS DATING FOR 24GA416 (REAS PASS SITE) AND POLLEN, PROTEIN RESIDUE ANALYSIS, AND AMS RADIOCARBON DATING FOR 24GA493 (HORSE BUTTE PENINSULA SITE), MONTANA

Sites 24GA416 (Reas Pass Site) and 24GA493 (Horse Butte Peninsula) and are located in Gallatin County, southwestern Montana. Excavations of these sites is part of an on-going effort to re-license the Hebgen Reservoir development along the Madison River near West Yellowstone. Pollen analysis was conducted on samples collected stratigraphically from both sites to provide paleoenvironmental information. Naturally occurring charcoal from columns at both sites also were AMS radiocarbon dated. In addition, pollen, starch, phytoliths, and macrofloral remains were examined from four levels of fill within a single hearth feature at 24GA416 to provide subsistence information concerning plant resources utilized by the site occupants. A groundstone from 24GA416 that had fractured into two conjoining pieces was examined for organic residues using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FTIR), as well as for pollen, phytoliths, and protein residues. Flaked lithics from both sites were extracted to recover protein residues that might be identified to indicate what animals were killed or processed with these tools.

遗址24GA416（里斯山口遗址，Reas Pass Site）与24GA493（马峰半岛遗址，Horse Butte Peninsula）坐落于蒙大拿州西南部的加拉廷县（Gallatin County）。对上述两处遗址的发掘工作，是为重新获批西黄石镇附近麦迪逊河沿岸赫布根水库（Hebgen Reservoir）开发项目许可而开展的持续性研究的一部分。研究人员对两处遗址地层中采集的样品开展了孢粉分析，以获取古环境相关信息。两处遗址柱样中天然产出的木炭样品，还通过加速器质谱碳十四测年（AMS radiocarbon dating）完成了年代测定。此外，针对24GA416遗址内一处火塘遗迹的四层堆积填充物，研究人员对其中的孢粉、淀粉粒、植硅体与大植物遗存进行了分析，以期获取该遗址定居者所利用的植物资源相关的生计信息。一件出土于24GA416遗址、断裂为两块且可拼接的磨制石器，通过傅里叶变换红外光谱仪（FTIR）检测了其表面的有机残留物，同时也对其上的孢粉、植硅体与蛋白质残留物进行了分析。研究人员还提取了两处遗址出土的打制石器表面的蛋白质残留物，通过鉴定残留物以确定这些工具曾被用于宰杀或加工何种动物。