A New Machine (Part 2): Scientific and Technological Applications in Historical Archaeology

DOCUMENT Citation Only Cynthia L. Peterson. Steven De Vore. Anton Till.

Iowaville (13VB124), a Báxoje village, housed up to 800 people in southeast Iowa from 1765–1820. Known to archaeologists and collectors for its remarkable surface and metal detector finds––beads, silver ornaments, a large faunal assemblage, and nested copper base-metal kettles containing fur and uncharred seeds––little was known about the site’s preservation or lack thereof. The 2010 fieldwork goal was to assess site integrity in this cultivated farm field. The National Park Service assisted...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Matteo Lorenzini. Pier Giorgio Spanu.

The availability of detailed environmental data has fueled a rapid increase in predictive modeling of archaeological landscapes and geographic distributions of archaeological evidence allowing the use of a variety of standard statistical techniques. In this paper we introduce the application of statistical and entropical methods in the geo-spatial analysis of the Sinis peninsula in the Gulf of Oristano, as investigated by the university of Sassari.The project was characterized by the use of...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Dana Pertermann.

A comprehensive investigation concerning the relationship between the degradation of iron objects and electromagnetic geophysical signatures is desirable, considering the volume and variety of iron used in various societies. We propose creating iron oxides and investigating how iron oxides affect the electromagnetic signature of iron objects. Using electrolysis, iron rebar of known composition is oxidized at differing time intervals to determine levels of corrosion. Rebar will be analyzed using...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Jade W Luiz.

Since the 1980’s the use of micromorphology in archaeology has grown and developed into an important tool for the analysis and interpretation of archaeological sites. Despite the increase in the use of micromorphology across the various sub-disciplines of archaeology, historical archaeologists have only just begun adopting these methods in their analyses. Micromorphology, the microanalysis of sediments and soils, can lend important information to the formation of, and activity within, historical...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Heather A Fischer.

In the mid- 19th century, General John David McAdoo operated a plantation in Washington County Texas. Dismantled in the 1960s, all that remains of the house are the stone pier foundations. During the summer of 2012, Texas Tech University excavated and mapped the stone piers using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The primary goal of these investigations was to document the layout and extent of the structure’s remains.  Information about the house comes from both an oral interview and visual...

DOCUMENT Citation Only James Gibb. William E. Stephens. Peter Quantock.

Fort Hollingsworth, erected by the citizens of Cecil County, Maryland, in April 1813 to protect the area from British incursions, was one of a series of small breastworks that protected the upper reaches of the Chesapeake Bay and the ‘back door’ to Philadelphia during the War of 1812. Fort Hollingsworth saw brief action in 1814 and, after the war, was demolished and the land returned to farming. Geophysical survey, exploratory soil borings, and detailed topographic mapping, and focused...