Student Contributions in Geoarchaeology
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)
One predictor of a discipline’s directions is student research. This organized session showcases papers led by current graduate and undergraduate students pursuing geoarchaeological research. Other than these two common threads, contributions span time and space, are single- and coauthored, and utilize a variety of methods to understand aspects of the landscape context of the archaeological record. The session’s goal is to offer student authors a forum to disseminate their recent work to a broad audience of peers and professionals.
Other Keywords
Geoarchaeology •
geomorphology •
Maya •
Geophysics •
Soils •
Canals •
Households •
Formation Processes •
Sinkhole •
China
Geographic Keywords
Mesoamerica •
North America - Southwest •
Caribbean •
North America - Plains •
North America - Midwest •
East/Southeast Asia
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-9 of 9)
- Documents (9)
-
Archaeological Investigations of Deeply Stratified Deposits at Crumps Sink, South-Central Kentucky, USA (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
In the holokarstic Sinkhole Plain, sinkholes provided access to cave entrances for shelter, water, chert outcrops, and contain distinct microenvironments. As closed basins, sinkholes accumulate sediment from the surrounding catchment, burying archaeological deposits, sometimes rapidly. Therefore, these sites can provide critical information concerning paleoenvironmental change and human use of the surrounding landscape. Excavations were undertaken at Crumps Sink in the summer of 2015 to assess...
-
Archaeological Site Distribution in Relation to Soils and Geomorphic Characteristics in Dune Landscapes in Northeastern Arizona (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
The Petrified Forest National Park in northeastern Arizona contains abundant archaeology sites located in dune settings. Archaeological research in the area has shown apparent correlation between archaeological site locations and dune geomorphology, suggesting that prehistoric inhabitants frequently targeted dunes for habitation sites. It has been proposed that this relationship may be due to extensive use of dune soils for agriculture. This paper investigates soils and geomorphology of dune...
-
The Central Plains Archaeological Survey: A Preliminary Report (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
Over the past five years, the authors have conducted a geoarchaeological survey in Northern Henan Province, China, to test three hypotheses of regional and global significance. First, many Chinese archaeologists consider this area void of archaeological remains. Based on our data, most archaeological material is far below the surface - approximately 5 to 8 meters. Second, the location of the Yellow River during the Bronze Age year is argued to flow to the south, entering the ocean near Shanghai....
-
Comparing Methods for Determining Particle-Size Distribution (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
Particle size analysis can be time consuming and expensive. Effective time and money management have the potential to contribute to more accurate particle size analysis results. Here we compare various pretreatment procedures to determine which is more efficient. Coarse-fraction was determined for nine sediment samples by sifting through nested sieves with standard mesh sizes #5, #10, #35, and #60 to compare wet-screening to mechanical dry-screening. Carbon was then removed from the smaller than...
-
Geochemical Analysis of Maya Commoner Houses and the Spaces in Between at Actuncan, Belize (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This research considers commoner activity patterns by investigating the results of a geochemical analysis of 500+ samples from earthen surfaces at Actuncan, a prehispanic Maya city located in western Belize. Samples derive from Terminal Classic surfaces of commoner houses as well as the open spaces surrounding them. Archaeological research has often focused on areas that contain visible architecture, since those regions are most easily recognizable as places that contained ancient activity,...
-
Geomorphological Assessment of Plantation Farmscapes in Antigua, West Indies (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
Geomorphological survey and analysis of anthropogenically modified soils surrounding the Betty’s Hope Plantation in Antigua, West Indies, sought to model the impacts of colonial farming on local landforms. Sugarcane was extensively farmed across the island from the mid-17th century until independence from Great Britain in 1981. Physical and chemical analysis of subsurface soils and sediments was conducted to understand the landscape legacies of British colonialism on landscape modification. This...
-
The Geophysical Investigations at the Tzib Group in Pacbitun, Belize (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
The archaeological site of Pacbitun is one of the ancient sites that was inhabited by the Maya for approximately two thousand years. It is located in the west central side of Belize, near the town of San Antonio. Exploration of the surveyed areas revealed a smaller archaeological site in 2011 known as the Tzib Group, also known as “Mano Mound” due to the significant amounts of mano fragments found on the surface. In the 2014 summer season, geophysical data was collected using an instrument...
-
Magnetic Gradiometry in the Spatial Reconstruction of the Early Agricultural Period Canal System at La Playa, Mexico (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
La Playa (SON F:10:3), in Sonora, Mexico, is an Early Agricultural period (2100 B.C.-A.D. 50) archaeological site which has the remains of an irrigation canal system. The Early Agricultural Period is characterized by the development of agriculture in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. Due to severe erosion at La Playa, intact canals and cultivated soils had not been located for study. Magnetic gradiometry was used to detect intact agricultural features buried by alluvium....
-
Modeling Landscape Evolution Across the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition at Blackwater Locality No. 1 (2016)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
Blackwater Locality No. 1 (the Clovis-type site) served as a catchment for spring-fed streams during the late Last Glacial Maximum, providing a water source for the Paleoindian occupants of the Southern High Plains. During episodes of high effective moisture, water flowed out of the basin via an outlet channel into Blackwater Draw proper. Coinciding with the changing climate of the early Younger Dryas, the flowing waters of the outlet channel were obstructed, impounding the waters of a shallow...