POLLEN AND MACROFLORAL ANALYSIS FOR BLUFF GREAT HOUSE, SITE 42SA22674, UTAH

Summary

Samples from five kivas (West, Central, East, Northeast, and Great) in front of the Great

House at Site 42SA22674 in Bluff, Utah, were analyzed for pollen and macrofloral remains.

Flotation and botanic samples also were recovered from the Great House, areas of berm/midden

around the Great House, the North Wall, and the Plaza. This site has several Chacoan settlement

characteristics, including a multi-storied Great House surrounded by an earthen berm/trash

midden, a Great Kiva, and a prehistoric road through the center of the site. The West, Central, and

East kivas did not have Chaco-style pilasters, however. These pilasters appeared Mesa Verde in

style. Ceramic analysis also suggests that much of the trash used in construction of the berm is

post-Chacoan. Pollen and macrofloral analyses are used to provide information concerning plant

resources utilized by the occupants of the site. Individual layers of plaster from the bench in the

East Kiva were examined for pollen to assess the potential for continued pollen analysis of plaster.

The pollen record might identify probable locations where materials were collected, season of

plastering, and/or mixing plant remains or pollen with the plaster for application to the walls and

benches. Several locations of the floor, including below a mano, as well as the floor of a vault and

a subfloor pit in the northeast kiva were examined for pollen.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• PaleoResearch Institute

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