Counting Charred Leaves: Macrobotanical and Fuel Wood Remains of Eagle Cave Through Time

Abstract

Eagle Cave (41VV167) is an archaeologically significant dry rock shelter located in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands in Val Verde County, Texas. Prior excavations by the Ancient Southwest Texas Project of Texas State University sampled Late Pleistocene and Archaic period earth-ovens and earth-oven-adjacent features from Eagle Cave. Using 10 sediment samples from the project, I determined how people’s relationship with plants changed according to certain variables: feature type, environmental zone, plant seasonality, plant-use categories, and time. The hypotheses that macrobotanical and wood charcoal counts and weights changed with the variables were supported, with the exception of the hypotheses made about plant-use categories and time. This research contributes to knowledge regarding past diets by providing a comprehensive paleoethnobotanical study of plant-use at Eagle Cave. Results provide new data regarding the breadth of botanical consumption and fuel components at Eagle Cave, with implications throughout the Chihuahuan desert and south-central North America.