It is possible that different types of tool production were taking place in the Early Archaic and in the Late Paleoindian. A change in the amount of debitage by production techniques would certainly create different density ratios between the Paleoindian and the Early Side Notched. Preservation and recovery need to be taken into account when analyzing wood charcoal remains. Wood charcoal is assumed to represent intensity of cave occupation, and should not change in manner of use through time. However, differing intensities in occupation could affect the amount of charcoal preserved.
Wood is also highly susceptible to damage from post-depositional processes.
It is possible that wood charcoal in the Late Paleoindian and the Early Archaic were subject to different post-depositional stresses. In this study, however, a Pearson's r-value of .724 exists for nutshell count to lithic debitage in the Early Side Notched. This may suggest increasing use of nut resources in the Early Archaic. The data from this analysis of the floatation samples in N61W65 of Dust Cave does not concur with previous botanical work at Dust Cave using charcoal and lithic comparisons. The archaeobotanical work at Dust Cave have shown differing results, making it difficult to determine any strong temporal trends.