PHYTOLITH AND STARCH ANALYSIS; MACROFLORAL AND CHARCOAL IDENTIFICATION; AND AMS RADIOCARBON DATING OF SAMPLES FROM SITE LA 178961, EDDY COUNTY, NEW MEXICO

A rock ring midden site, LA 178961, is situated on a small bench overlooking Boyds Canyon and Spring Draw, within the foothills west of Carlsbad in Eddy County, New Mexico. Three of four deflated ring middens noted at this site have been impacted by a two track road and rancher water line (Rebecca Hill, personal communication July 8, 2014). Three soil samples, collected from two different features, were submitted for phytolith, starch, and macrofloral analysis. Although pollen analysis was not requested, the samples also were inadvertently processed to recover pollen, so the results are reported. In addition, the most suitable charred floral remains from each of these samples were submitted for AMS radiocarbon age determination to identify the period of occupation.

遗址编号为LA 178961的石环堆址，坐落于一处小型台地之上，俯瞰博伊兹峡谷（Boyds Canyon）与斯普林德拉干谷（Spring Draw），地处美国新墨西哥州埃迪县卡尔斯巴德以西的山麓地带。该遗址共发现4处遭侵蚀夷平的石环堆址，其中3处受到双车辙土路及牧场输水管道的破坏（丽贝卡·希尔，2014年7月8日私人交流）。研究人员从两处不同的遗迹单位中采集了3份土壤样本，送交开展植硅体、淀粉粒及大植物遗存分析。尽管未申请开展花粉分析，但样本在处理过程中被意外用于花粉提取，因此相关结果也一并予以报告。此外，研究人员从每份样本中选取最优的炭化植物遗存，送交加速器质谱（AMS，Accelerator Mass Spectrometry）进行放射性碳定年，以确定该遗址的人类使用时期。