In the Wyoming Basin, archaeological sites dating from the Early Archaic to Late Prehistoric are often found associated with or adjacent to dense populations of Cymopterus bulbosus (springparsley), a nutritious geophyte that would have been an important food source for prehistoric humans living in the region. Experimental data have shown that the caloric return rates of C. bulbosus were enough to support seasonal exploitation by foragers, yet there has been no direct evidence for the use of this geophyte from the archaeological record. In this study, we examine starch granules from 10 ground stone tools excavated from two stratified, multicomponent archaeological sites in the Wyoming Basin to determine if C. bulbosus was collected and consumed in the past. Taproots of C. bulbosus were collected from two populations in the immediate vicinity of the archaeological sites in order to develop a modern starch reference. Identification of Cymopterus starch granules is based on a systematic study of those reference granules. The presence of Cymopterus starch on the ground stone artifacts suggests that prehistoric foragers were collecting and consuming these geophytes. These findings support previous hypotheses about geophyte use in southern Wyoming and therefore have implications for increasing human populations as well as settlement and subsistence decisions.

在怀俄明盆地，从早期古代到史前晚期的考古遗址经常被发现与密集的球茎芫荽（springparsley）种群相关或邻近，这是一种营养丰富的地球植物，可能是生活在该地区的史前人类的重要食物来源. 实验数据表明，C.bulbosus的热量回报率足以支持觅食者的季节性开采，但考古记录中没有直接证据表明使用这种地球植物。在这项研究中，我们检查了从怀俄明盆地两个分层、多组分考古遗址挖掘出的 10 个磨石工具中的淀粉颗粒，以确定C.bulbosus过去被收集和消费。为了开发现代淀粉参考，从考古遗址附近的两个种群中收集了C.bulbosus 的主根。食蚁兽淀粉颗粒的鉴定是基于对这些参考颗粒的系统研究。地面石制品上存在Cymopterus淀粉表明史前觅食者正在收集和食用这些地球植物。这些发现支持先前关于怀俄明州南部使用地球植物的假设，因此对增加人口以及定居和生存决策具有影响。