POLLEN, PHYTOLITH, AND ORGANIC RESIDUE (FTIR) ANALYSIS AND ARCHAEOCLIMATIC MODELING AT SITE 11MG423, MORGAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS

Summary

Archaeological testing of site 11MG423 was undertaken as part of work in the Woods

Creek Valley. Cultural material was noted at depths between 230 and 260 cm below the

surface within a buried soil. A late Middle Archaic occupation was associated with this

occupation about 5000 BP (approximately 6000 calendar years BP).

Pollen, phytolith, and organic residue analysis, using FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared

Spectrometry) examined a few soil samples from site 11MG423 in Morgan County, Illinois to

determine the efficacy of these analyses, particularly with respect to identifying subsistence

information. Based on examination of these few samples, fifteen additional sediment and firecracked

rock samples were submitted for organic residue analysis, along with sixteen

stratigraphic samples and ten sediment samples for phytolith analysis. An archaeoclimatic

model was also constructed for this site using climatic “normals” from the Jacksonville, Illinois

weather recording station.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• PaleoResearch Institute

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