Can LaRamie Soils Service help us identify terrains that have a high potential to yield in situ buried cultural materials?
Yes! By using geomorphic terrain analysis (Mcfaul 1990) and documentation of geologic relationships and pedologic (soil) horizons it is often possible to delimit areas with the potential to yield archaeological material. One example of such a project in which we used this procedure was a water pipeline in north central Colorado. Obviously, the archaeological potential of bedrock that comprised the local hogbacks was limited to surface finds and intrusive features, but there were also several Quaternary alluvial terraces in the region. In addition, several areas along the pipeline only had a thin covering (i.e., < 50 cm) of Holocene colluvial and eolian sediments. Though surface sites may be discovered in locales of thin sediment cover, the likelihood of in situ buried cultural materials is limited. By using terrain ranking we identify areas suitable for sub-surface testing and free areas of low archaeological potential for construction. Implementing geoachaeological reconnaissance can
Related Questions
- Can LaRamie Soils Service help us identify terrains that have a high potential to yield in situ buried cultural materials?
- Can LaRamie Soils Service help us determine what the environment was like during a sites occupation?
- Can LaRamie Soils Service help us determine if the cultural materials at our site are in situ?
