POLLEN AND PHYTOLITH ANALYSIS OF TWO SAMPLES FROM SITE 310N235, ONSLOW COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA

Summary

Two soil samples were examined from 310N235, a Late Woodland coastal settlement

in Onslow County, North Carolina. These samples represent a trash pit and fill from a burial pit.

Pollen and phytolith analysis were undertaken to identify plant foods exploited by the occupants

of this site. In particular, maize appears to have been part of the diet as interpreted by the high

incidence of dental caries and stable carbon isotope values returned from human bone. No

macrobotanic evidence for maize was recovered. Peltandra virginica (arrow arum or tuckahoe)

is considered to be the most likely non-maize food source for Late Woodland people of coastal

North Carolina and Virginia. Therefore, the major thrust of this analysis was to attempt to

recover evidence of maize, tuckahoe, or other plants that might contribute to dental caries and

a stable carbon isotope signature similar to that of maize.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• PaleoResearch Institute

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