Archaeological evaluation of alluvial landscapes in Western Maryland, USA

Horsley, Timothy J.; Wall, Robert D.

doi:10.4000/archeosciences.1336

Cited by 1 publication

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“…Geophysical methods have become a common part of the archaeologist's toolkit in southeastern North America, where they are increasingly utilised to explore large sites and landscapes (e.g. Kvamme, ; Peterson, 2007; Horsley and Wall, , 2010; Thompson and Pluckhahn, , ; Burks and Cook, ; Butler et al ., 2011). Often, however, these non‐invasive methods have been used more narrowly, to locate specific buried features for targeting in subsequent excavations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prospecting for New Questions: Integrating Geophysics to Define Anthropological Research Objectives and Inform Excavation Strategies at Monumental Sites

Horsley

Wright

Barrier

2014

Archaeological Prospection

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Abstract:Geophysical data have the potential to significantly contribute to archaeological research projects when effectively integrated with more traditional methods. Although pre-existing archaeological questions about a site may be answered using geophysical methods, beginning an investigation with an extensive geophysical survey can assist in understanding the function and archaeological potential of a site, and may even transform preconceptions about the type and spatial organisation of features that are present. In this way, these prospection tools not only accurately locate and map features to allow recovery of cultural material for identification and dating, we argue that they can go much further, allowing us to prospect for new and appropriate archaeological and anthropological research questions. Such an approach is best realised when geophysical and traditional archaeologists work together to define new objectives and strategies to address them, and by maintaining this collaboration to allow continual feedback between geophysical and archaeological data. A flexible research design is therefore essential in order to allow the methodologies to adapt to the site, the results, and the questions being posed. This methodology is demonstrated through two case studies from mound sites in the Southeast United States: the transitional Mississippian Washausen site in Illinois; and the Middle Woodland Garden Creek site in North Carolina. In both cases, integrating geophysical methods throughout the archaeological investigations has resulted in multiple phases of generating and addressing new research objectives. While clearly beneficial at these two mound sites in the Southeast U.S., this interdisciplinary approach has obvious implications well beyond these temporal and geographic areas.Geophysical methods have become a common part of the archaeologist's toolkit in southeastern North America, where they are increasingly utilised to explore large sites and landscapes (e.g. Kvamme, 2003; Peterson, 2007;Horsley and Wall, 2009;Thompson and Pluckhahn, 2010;Burks and Cook, 2011). Often, however, these non-invasive methods have been used more narrowly, to locate specific buried features for targeting in subsequent excavations. This is especially true in commercial applications that require the production of maps of anomalies worth more invasive testing.Although very effective in these situations, we illustrate that geophysics can be deployed to better advantage in research contexts. (This paper focuses on research-driven projects, our * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 610 526 5025; fax: +1 610 526 5655; e-mail: cbarrier@brynmawr.edu. approach-and geophysical surveys in general-is also amenable to commercial contexts: e.g. Johnson and Haley, 2006;Lockhart and Green, 2006). In the mid-1990s, Boucher (1996 argued that geophysical methods were not used to their full potential. Citing examples from the U.K., he determined this resulted from poor communication between geophysicists and archaeologists. Nearly two decades on, th...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Kvamme, 2003;Peterson, 2007;Horsley and Wall, 2009;Thompson and Pluckhahn, 2010;Burks and Cook, 2011). Often, however, these non-invasive methods have been used more narrowly, to locate specific buried features for targeting in subsequent excavations.…”

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confidence: 99%