Doing Fieldwork: Surveying for Archaeological Sites Chapter 3 Doing Fieldwork: Surveying for Archaeological Sites

Outline Good Old Gumshoe Survey Surface Archaeology in the Carson Desert Looking Below the Ground The Benefits of Noninvasive Archaeology Geographic Information Systems Landscape Archaeology

Good Old Gumshoe Survey An archaeological site is any place where material evidence exists about the human past. Usually “site” refers to a concentration of such evidence. Many archaeological sites have been found by farmers, cowboys, and amateurs archaeologists. Archaeological sites are found in different ways, and there is no single formula to finding them. Luck and hard work are the major keys; sites are also found through systematic survey. Gatecliff was found by “Old Fashioned Gumshoe Survey”

Surface Archaeology in the Carson Desert Archaeologists in the 1970s debated how the wetlands were incorporated into the seasonal round of the region’s native peoples Projectile points- arrowheads, dart points, or spear points. Seasonal round- hunter-gatherers, pattern of movement between different places on the landscape, timed to the seasonal availability of food and other resources. Exploring the regional archaeological record was necessary to understand ancient life in the Carson desert.

Some Sampling Considerations Capricious and biased sampling methods can lead archaeologists astray. The best way to ensure unbiased resource is through judicial use of statistical sampling. Statistical sampling – the principles that underlie sampling strategies that provide accurate measures of a statistical population.

Map of the Carson Desert

Getting the Sample Sample units can be many different shapes, but square, circle, and transects are the most commonly used. Mano- a fist-sized, round, flat, hand-held stone used for a metate. Metate- a large, flat stone used as a stationary surface upon which sits, tubers, and nuts, are ground with a mano. http://adip.info/2011/03/la-cocina-mexicana/

Statistical Population A set of counts, measurements, or characteristics about which relevant inquiries are to be made. Note: scientists use the term“statistical population” in a specialized way (quite different from“population” in the ordinary sense).

Sample Universe The region that contains the statistical population and that will be sampled. Its size and shape are determined by the research question and practical considerations.

Stratified Random Sample A survey universe divided into several sub-universes that are then sampled at potentially different sample fractions.

Smithsonian Number A unique catalog number given to sites. It consists of a number (the state’s position alphabetically), a letter abbreviation of the county, and the site’s sequential number within the county. 26CH798 26 – Nevada, the 26th state listed alphabetically CH – Churchill County 798- the 798th site recorded in the county

GPS Technology and Modern Surveys Surveys today are assisted by Global Positioning System (GPS Technology) Handheld GPS units operate by picking up the continuously broadcast signals from at least four of 27 satellites. GPS technology has made fieldwork easier, no archaeologist today would take to the field without a GPS unit. Within seconds the GPS receiver triangulates a position fix within a 5-meter accuracy.

Looking below the Ground Important archaeological remains can lie on a stable desert surface for millennia. In non-desert areas, artifacts can be washed away or deeply buried. Surface archaeology documents only what lays on or near the ground surface. Walking through plowed fields after tilling (and especially after a rain) because the plow turns up shallow buried remains Archaeologists use natural exposures, such as arroyos or river banks, which sometimes expose deeply buried deposits. Archaeologists also can use some pretty high-tech ways to “see” below ground.

Surface Survey In systematic archaeological surveys the idea is to walk the straightest line possible, climbing over rocks and deadfalls, skirting along the sides of steep ridges- looking even in places where you don’t expect to find anything.

Remote Sensing The application of methods that employ some form of electromagnetic energy (i.e. raw electricity, light, heat, or radio waves) to measure the characteristics of an archaeological target. Enhances the human capability to “see” Proton precession magnetometer Soil Resistivity Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR0)

The Proton Magnetometer Magnetometers measure the strengths of magnetism between the earth’s magnetic core and a sensor the archaeologist control. The magnetometer provides the equivalent of an MRI tipping off archaeologists to what is going on beneath the earth’s surface. Today we use an instrument called a fluxgate gradiometer to monitor magnetism in buried deposits.

Soil Resistivity The degree of soil resistance depends on several factors, the most important is the amount of water retained in the soil. The generation of humus by occupation activity increases the ion content of the soil reducing resistivity. Today resistivity survey has been streamlined with new instruments and sophisticated ways to analyze the data.

Ground-Penetrating Radar In GPR radar pulses directed into the ground reflect back to the surface when they strike targets or interfaces within the ground. As these pulses are reflected, their speed to the target and the nature of their return are measured. The signal’s reflection provides information about the depth and three-dimensional shape of buried objects. A researcher applying GPR can direct the greatest degree of resolution to the depth of specific interest.

The Benefits of Noninvasive Archaeology Remote sensing can help archaeology in various significant ways. One draw back has been that remote sensing techniques are expensive, but the cost has been decreasing with more available machinery and it can actually reduce a projects cost in the long run. With increasing refinements to the technology, remote sensing has become an indispensible tool.

Geographic Information Systems Archaeologists use maps to plot the results of remote sensing, such as artifact distributions. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are computer programs designed to store, retrieve, analyze, and display cartographic data. Most common programs in use today are Arc View and Arc Info. GIS is a basic skill that any student contemplating a career in archaeology should learn. In GIS a data base is composed of several themes or layers.

Landscape Archaeology The study of ancient human modification of the environment. Landscape archaeology adds a concern with how people use and modify their environment.

The Chacoan Roads: Discovery In 1970-1971, archaeologists R. Vivian was mapping a series of ancient canals at Chaco Canyon and realized these were different, an engineered roadway. Geologist Thomas Lyons worked with Vivian on the site and discovered unmistakable traces of a prehistoric road network. New photographic techniques capture portions of the electromagnetic spectrum invisible to the naked eye. A technique used by NASA in the 1980s was thermal infrared multispectral scanning or TIMS.

Chacoan Roads

The Chacoan Roads: Interpretation A hypothesis is that the Chaco roads facilitated movement of foods and other goods across the landscape. In traditional Pueblo theology, the world consists of several nested layers, surrounded by edges by four sacred mountains. Using GIS Kantner found that Chacoan roads do not follow the path of least resistance, therefore these roads did not serve simply a part of Chacoan economy. The landscape carries symbolic meaning and economic potential, though GIS casts doubt on the economic hypothesis.

Keres Symbolic Landscape

Videos From the Files of Public Archaeology Facility, Part III- Surveying http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxISz1- R01M GIS Archaeology Part I & Part II http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lva6NKrxwUU A Look at Chaco Canyon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiC30NgbWqE

Quick Quiz

The systematic regional survey is the single best formula for finding an archaeological site. True False

Answer: B Archaeological sites are found in different ways, and there is no single formula. Luck and hard work are the major keys; other sites are found through the systematic regional survey.

2. An archaeological site is: A concentration of material evidence about the human past. The movements and activities reconstructed from a settlement pattern. A set of counts, measurements, or characteristics about which relevant inquiries are to be made. None of the above.

Answer: A An archeaological site is any place where material evidence exists about the human past, usually referring to a concentration of such evidence.

3. Surveys are necessary when every square inch of an area can not be investigated. True False

Answer: A Surveys are often necessary and ensure unbiased results.

Excavating large portions of sites are not the only way to acquire data on the distribution of artifacts and features below the surface of the site. A. True B. False

Answer: A There are a number of ways to determine what lies below the ground.