Deep Beneath the Surface: A Geophysical and Geomorphic Assessment of the Mary Rinn Archaeological Site

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Future of Geoarchaeology: Student Research and Insights" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Mary Rinn archaeological site is interpreted as a village site, radiocarbon dated 850 – 1550 AD along Crooked Creek in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. However, there is nearly continuous evidence of human habitation within the Cowanshannck-Crooked Creeks watershed between 16,500 and 500 years ago, corresponding with the Paleoindian through Woodland periods in Pennsylvania. The site has shown evidence of being stratified through previous studies and excavations. This study is aimed to confirm that the site is stratified as well as explore minimally invasive techniques to yield maximum data recovery. This is done by utilizing ground penetrating radar (GPR) to identify potential buried landscapes to be subsequently verified (i.e., ground truthed). The ground truthing is conducted by hand using a hand operated soil auger. Within the Mary Rinn archaeological site, there has been no recorded testing like what this study has done. This study will expand on the current geoarchaeological interpretations of the Mary Rinn site and will provide valuable information for future geoarchaeological survey and archaeological testing that can significantly inform deep testing locations and depths, and thus limit overall site disturbance to answer archaeological questions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• The Future of Geoarchaeology: Student Research and Insights

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 51736