The Palynology Of Two Archaeological Sites In The Southeast Missouri Ozarks

Palynological investigations of two archaeological sites-Round Spring Shelter, Round Spring Site 23SH19 and Gooseneck Site 23CT54 located in Shannon and Carter counties, Missouri-provide botanical information associated with Indian occupation. The pollen sequence from Round Spring Shelter suggests the presence of a pine-oak forest in the vicinity of Round Spring. Based on associated Middle Woodland artifacts, the pine-oak forest may be dated from approximately 500 B. C. and continues to the present. However, the pollen spectra from Gooseneck Site 23CT54 indicate a mixed oak-hickory forest in the locality for an Early Mississippian Naylor Phase occupation (ca. A.D. 650-850). The palynological data from the archaeological sites provide part of the Holocene vegetational record in an area previously unstudied.