Plant Remains Recovered by Flotation from Trash at Salmon Ruin, New Mexico

Analysis of flotation samples from trash deposits at Salmon Ruin, an Anasazi Pueblo site, revealed the presence of 38 identified plant taxa. The inhabitants collected these species from spring through late fall and used most of them as food. Evidence indicates that cheno-am and grass seed had great importance in the inhabitants' economy. Temporal analysis shows a greater variety of wild plants were used at the site during the second of its two major occupations; this was most likely a response to environmental changes and possibly population pressure making agriculture and some key wild plants less productive.