eep Stratigraphic Deposits: Pond Scum, Aircraft Wreckage, and Safety in Assam, India

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Fulfilling a Nation’s Promise: The Search, Recovery, and Accounting Efforts of DPAA and Its Partners" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Stratigraphy is an important part of understanding the history and land use of any archaeological site, but it is exceptionally important in understanding sites associated with US missing service personnel. Understanding the stratigraphy and pedogenic processes of a recovery site/scene allows the lead archaeologist to make informed decisions about the extent/depth of excavation as well as the direction of excavation. This understanding guides the excavations to the areas that appear to have the highest likelihood of recovering probative materials associated with missing US service members. An important aspect of the study of stratigraphy is to interpret the land-use history of these recovery scenes, including the original incident related archaeosediments and various taphonomic processes as well as natural and cultural depositional/erosional sequences that are necessary to reconstruct the land use and modification of incident-related sequences. Examples from the recent (December 2022 to January 2023) excavation in Assam, India, illustrate the compromise of excavating and interpretation regarding a large US aircraft crash site as well as maintaining safety protocols for deep excavations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• Fulfilling a Nation’s Promise: The Search, Recovery, and Accounting Efforts of DPAA and Its Partners

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37931.0