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Determining Site Size and Structure: A Fort Ancient Example

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Robert A. Cook  and
Jarrod Burks
Robert A. Cook
Affiliation:
The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio ([email protected])
Jarrod Burks
Affiliation:
Ohio Valley Archaeology, Inc., Columbus, Ohio ([email protected])
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Abstract

A basic problem in archaeological research is determining site size and structure. In this paper we develop an approach that sequentially employs several survey techniques, including aerial photography, magnetic gradiometry, magnetic susceptibility, and shovel testing in the context of the Wildcat site (33My499), a Fort Ancient habitation site located near Dayton, Ohio. Defining site size and structure was a challenge at Wildcat since it is located in an agricultural field that has not been plowed for many years. Magnetic susceptibility and close-interval shovel testing worked well to define the basic site structure, and magnetic gradiometry and targeted magnetic anomaly excavations efficiently revealed a series of features. Alone, each of the methods produced somewhat misleading data regarding site size and structure, but together they revealed a much smaller site than originally anticipated.

Resumen

Resumen

Un problema básico de la investigación arqueológica es determinar la extensión y estructura de los sitios. En este artículo, desarrollamos una metodología que aplica un enfoque secuencial de varias técnicas de prospección que incluye la fotografìa aérea, los métodos gravimétricos, la susceptibilidad magnética y la excavación de sondeos. Esta metodología se aplicó en el sitio Wildcat (33My499), que es un antiguo fuerte habitacional ubicado cerca de Dayton, Ohio. La determinación de la extensión y la estructura fue complicada en Wildcat por su ubicación dentro de un campo agrícola que nofue sembrado por varios años. La susceptibilidad magnética y los sondeos de excavación intensivos documentaron bien la estructura básica del sitio. Los métodos gravimétricos y las excavaciones enfocadas en las anomalias magnéticas descubrieron una serie de elementos de una manera eficiente. Cada método por sí solo produjo datos que fueron un poco confusos con respecto a la extensión y a la estructura del sitio, pero juntos nos revelaron un sitio mucho más pequeño que el esperado.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 76 , Issue 1 , January 2011 , pp. 145 - 162
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2011

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