Geophysical Survey Meets Cultural Resource Management at Brooks River NHL

Summary

The Brooks River Archaeological District National Historic Landmark (XMK-050) in Katmai National Park, Alaska, includes sites that date from 2500 BC to the historic period--a cultural record that spans nearly 4500 years. While this district has already yielded data of great scientific importance--including the greatest concentration of Arctic Small Tool tradition dwelling sites in Alaska, and possibly in North America--it is suspected that as much as 90% of the cultural resources remain undisturbed and untested. These resources are presently under threat from both erosion and the ongoing need to maintain infrastructure at the visitor camp. In 2015 our team conducted extensive geophysical surveying of highly-impacted areas using ground-penetrating radar (GPR), magnetometry and electomagnetic induction (EM). The surveys located a number of previously unknown archaeological features and gathered new information on some known features. The highlights of this effort are presented.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage