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

Summary

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.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• PaleoResearch Institute

Record Identifiers

PRI Technical Report(s): 92-012

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