Archaeological Prospection最新文献

The identification of unmarked graves and burials is one of most common applications of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) in archaeology. Despite a high frequency of use and a long history of experimentation, there appears to be considerable variability on what indicates a burial in GPR data—likely a consequence of heterogeneity in geological contexts, age and in burial practices. Although general statements about uncertainty in GPR interpretation may be acceptable in archaeological applications, the interpretative process becomes more complicated when GPR is used to locate unmarked graves in culturally, politically and legally contested locations such as at former Indian Residential Schools (IRSs) in Canada. In this paper, we review international applications of the technique and identify trends and traits between the authors' use of GPR to identify burials. By categorizing the studies based on the GPR reflection signatures identified, our review demonstrates that there is modest consensus across the 77 documents reviewed for what represents a burial. Interrogating these findings, we identify a range of potential contributors to signal heterogeneity and outline potential steps forward to a higher confidence or more statistically robust identification of unmarked graves using GPR.

This paper serves to highlight the partnership built between the Prewitt Slave Cemetery Association (PSCA) and the University of Alabama (UA) through the work conducted by the UA archaeological field school at the Prewitt Slave Cemetery (PSC) in Fall 2022. During this collaborative project, the field school students geolocated, recorded and photographed more than 700 above-ground grave markers and conducted a multi-method geophysical survey that included magnetic gradiometry, electrical resistance, electromagnetic induction and ground-penetrating radar. Results from this survey aided researchers in identifying the locations of over 800 marked and unmarked graves. The benefits of the partnership between PSCA and UA were mutual and multiple. First, the data recorded by the UA field school helped the PSCA achieve its immediate goal of identifying unmarked graves, allowing the organization to move forward with efforts to preserve and protect the PSC. Second, the UA field school students gained valuable experience related to proper cemetery study techniques, including geophysical survey, and learned to conduct community-based participatory research in collaboration with descendant communities. Additionally, this project allowed for further research related to the use of multiple methods of geophysical instrumentation for identifying unmarked graves beyond ground-penetrating radar.

In North America, archaeological prospection has recently undergone a surge in popularity, resulting in higher visibility for both scientific and fringe narratives. This has been partially due to increasingly sensationalized media articles that promote the use of technology to locate overgrown and subsurface features in the landscape. The heightened profile of the field and increasingly sensitive contexts in which it is applied (e.g., locating potential unmarked graves) has expanded the discipline beyond its usual settings where typical archaeological prospection rhetoric and narratives are applied. In this paper, we explore how the presentation of archaeological prospection can impact descendant communities and their burial and cultural spaces. We identify rhetoric, discourse and narrative as key considerations that have resulted in the twisting of interpretations to support fringe narratives. We present two case studies: (1) denialism surrounding unmarked graves at former Indian Residential Schools and (2) the reinterpretation of Indigenous spaces by Graham Hancock's Ancient Apocalypse. We draw upon these seemingly disparate examples as evidence that ambiguity in scholarly communication and ‘certainty’ in fringe communication can both be used to the detriment of Indigenous and other descendant communities in various ways that we term pseudoarchaeological colonialism. Finally, we recommend strategies on how to disseminate results in non-harmful ways and confront the wrongful usage of archaeological prospection.

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) was used to map anomalies characteristic of unmarked graves on the grounds of the modern Woodland Cemetery on the campus of Clemson University. Hundreds of these anomalies are believed to represent newly discovered unmarked graves belonging to African Americans including enslaved people, convicted laborers, sharecroppers, domestic workers, tenant farmers and wage workers, who contributed to the wealth of the Fort Hill Plantation or to building and maintaining the university. These burials appear to be in an organized arrangement indicating the presence of a burial ground where the graves would have been marked at the time of internment. Analyses of reflections from the bottom of the grave shaft detected horizontal bases as well as possible chambered and vaulted burials, a common vernacular burial type among African Americans in the 19th and early 20th centuries. A fewer number of graves showed hyperbolic reflections that can be produced by graves that contain coffins or a large artefact. This may indicate burial practices that changed over time or the status of the interred individual. The estimated length of the grave shaft in GPR grid data suggests that small adults or adolescents made up most of the burials (58%), then adults (28%) and infants and children (13%). In 1924, Woodland Cemetery was developed on Cemetery Hill, which had its first recorded burial in 1837. Plots were then gifted to prominent University leaders, faculty, staff and their families. The unmarked burials were found juxtaposed among these modern graves requiring modification of the current protocol for the operating cemetery to preserve the sacred space and to prevent destruction of these burials. This work affirms ongoing efforts by this public university to address its origins from a plantation and segregation in the American South.

LiDAR has become fairly integrated into archaeological practice at a global scale. This has gradually evolved to include UAV LiDAR. Nevertheless, considerable biases remain, including with regard to geographical regions, chronological periods, feature types and environments. At present, few studies of coastal environments exist, despite the fact that LiDAR—and UAV LiDAR in particular—has the obvious advantages of flexibility and time efficiency in such archaeologically rich but logistically challenging environments. In this paper, we compare the results of UAV LiDAR surveys with records from previous ground surveys in two case studies from coastal environments on opposite sides of the globe. Case Study I of shell middens located within approximately 3 km² around Cambaceres Bay involved the first collection of LiDAR data from Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Case Study II covered approximately 3 km² of the island of Vega, Northern Norway, and is among the pioneering LiDAR studies of Mesolithic house pits. The detection success rate was fairly good for Cambaceres—69% of 1240 recorded structures were identified on LiDAR—and above expected for Vega, with 81% of 51 recorded house pits identified on LiDAR. In Cambaceres, the main challenges were dense and low vegetation and identifying small middens. Possible new identifications of archaeological features were made in both areas: subtle depressions interpreted as dwelling foundations in Cambaceres and house pits on Vega. We conclude that UAV LiDAR can contribute to coastal archaeology and that it has added values besides making new identifications, being both flexible and time efficient. An example pertains to the possible identification of a practice that has not previously been proved archaeologically in Tierra del Fuego—more thorough site preparation prior to the construction of the dwellings—which in turn raises new questions.

Part of Canadian history that is now being addressed is the legacy of Indian residential schools (IRSs) and closely related institutions. For most of their 200-year-plus history, these were run by various churches or religious organizations, and many were directly funded (and eventually run) by government. Attendance by Indigenous children at these schools was made compulsory, and children were deliberately taken far from their cultural base, native language and family in the name of cultural assimilation. Abundant and longstanding evidence has documented abuse, neglect and high rates of death at the schools. Most or all schools had cemeteries, many of which have fallen into neglect and/or been lost through time. Documenting the numbers, names and burial locations of students who died at the schools has become a national priority. Since 2021, interest in this work has accelerated, due in large part by media announcements of geophysical findings of potential unmarked graves at various school sites. Geophysical surveys for unmarked graves are planned or underway at a large number of school sites nationwide. Related lines of research are seeking to document the extent and nature of student deaths based on archival records, survivor accounts and other lines of evidence. As suggested by government and demanded by Indigenous communities, these searches are being led by the affected communities. This paper represents a snapshot of elements of the work in progress, based in part on the personal participation of the author in multiple IRS searches and resulting direct involvement with local communities. Included in this contribution are a historic context, broad overview of community participation/leadership and suggested refinements to geophysical survey best practices that have been promulgated by the Canadian archaeological community and other nationwide organizations.

The multidisciplinary study of Gunung Padang has revealed compelling evidence of a complex and sophisticated megalithic site. Correlations between rock stratifications observed through surface exposures, trenching and core logs, combined with GPR facies, ERT layers, and seismic tomograms, demonstrate the presence of multi-layer constructions spanning approximately 20–30 m. Notably, a high-resistive anomaly in electric resistivity tomography aligns with a low-velocity anomaly detected in seismic tomography, indicating the existence of hidden cavities or chambers within the site. Additionally, drilling operations revealed significant water loss, further supporting the presence of underground spaces. Radiocarbon dating of organic soils from the structures uncovered multiple construction stages dating back thousands of years BCE, with the initial phase dating to the Palaeolithic era. These findings offer valuable insights into the construction history of Gunung Padang, shedding light on the engineering capabilities of ancient civilizations during the Palaeolithic era.

Interest in documenting and preserving African American burial grounds is rapidly expanding across the United States of America. This work has wide support and numerous groups advocate for the creation of such projects. In majority-White, rural communities, these projects can elicit strong reactions — positive and negative. This article discusses the challenges arising in such locations by reviewing a recent cemetery mapping and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey of the Cedar Key Cemetery located on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Numerous challenges, including concentrated attempts to halt the work, emerge over the duration of the project. In Cedar Key, years of transparent engagement between community members and archaeologists results in the emergence of a diverse stakeholder community supporting the project and guaranteeing its completion. Today, this group is mobilizing to document and commemorate similar places in nearby communities.

This article combining geophysics and archaeology aims to provide a more comprehensive characterization of the La Ruchelle valley located in the south of the Celtic site of La Peyrouse (Saint-Félix-de-Villadeix, Dordogne, France) (occupied between the 3rd century BC and the 2nd century AD) through geological prospection (core sampling, geotechnical prospection and mechanical prospection) and near-surface geophysics (electrical resistivity tomography). On this site, other studies have been carried out since the discovery of the site, such as magnetic prospecting and a hydrogeological study. Geophysical data coupled with geological prospection were used to understand the geology of the valley: (1) The bottom of the valley is filled with colluvium with a thickness of 6 m maximum; (2) part of the colluvium filling characterize by a very low resistivity is indeed archaeological remains; (3) three very distinct geological horizons have been detected—two of these horizons are characteristic of Campanian limestone (C6d and C6e), and the last consists of colluvium with a filling between 2 and 6 m in the centre of the valley, which is particularly thick. This last very thick formation is in fact filled with archaeological and prehistoric remains.