GEOPHYSICS AS PRESERVATION ARCHAEOLOGY: MAPPING ARCHITECTURAL VARIABILITY IN THE MOGOLLON WITH MAGNETIC AND ELECTROMAGNETIC LANDSCAPE SURVEYS
Timothy de Smet, Thatcher Rogers, William August Sauck · 2014
Abstract In the summer of 2013, we conducted magnetic gradiometry (Geometrics G-858) and frequency-domain electromagnetic-induction (GSSI’s EMP-400 Profiler) surveys at the Dinwiddie, Fornholt, and Gamalstad sites in Grant County, New Mexico, as part of the Archaeology Southwest and University of Arizona 2013 Preservation Archaeology Field School at Mule Creek, NM. We collected data at 0.5 m line spacing over an area of approximately 25,000 m2 to produce precise well sampled magnetic gradient (nT/m) and apparent conductivity (mS/m) maps of the area. These maps, along with a surface survey of artifacts, were used to determine the extent and location of archaeological resources in the area, which include pit-houses, adobe and masonry pueblos. The use of these non-destructive non-invasive techniques will be used to guide the preservation and management of these nonrenewable archaeological resources for future generations. Moreover, the use of a landscape scale approach allowed for us to map land use choices from the 7th through 15th centuries CE Mogollon sequence in the area. At these sites we used near-surface applied geophysics as both a prospection and preservation tool, but also as a way to answer fundamental anthropological research questions about cultural change through time and in space.