Geophysical Survey as an Exercise in Applied Archaeological Education

Summary

Graduate and undergraduate students from the course "Geophysical Applications in Archaeology" conduct a geophysical survey related to a potential archaeological site or cemetery each year. The survey is undertaken as a final small group project composed of two to three students. The purpose of the survey is to determine if there is geophysical evidence of potentially buried archaeological features or burials within the survey area. Each individual group surveys a single 20mX20m geophysical grid using ground-penetrating radar and a gradiometer. The individual groups then process and interpret the geophysical data using standard processing software and geospatial technologies. The students present the methods, results, and interpretations as a final project in the class and produce a final technical report for their individual geophysical grid. The overall goal of the exercise is to provide students with field experience in establishing a geophysical grid, executing geophysical survey, post processing geophysical data, and producing a technical report of the results and interpretations. A composite processing and analysis by the instructor provides the students with an overall "picture" of the results of their combined surveys. Here examples and results of this process will be presented.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20875