Archaeo-Physics, LLC | Case Studies in archaeological geophysics

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey at the Nabataeo-Roman site of Wadi Ramm in Jordan

Case Studies in archaeological geophysics

The following case studies were selected from among hundreds of surveys performed by Archaeo-Physics staff members. Examples were selected to illustrate geophysical applications in a variety of contexts and issues in methodology and interpretation.

Featured case study:
Fort Juelson : A Black Hills war era defensive earthwork in Tordenskjold Township, Minnesota. A non-invasive investigation has defined the boundaries of the fort and identified several previously undocumented prehistoric burial mounds (Phase I = LiDAR and GIS integration. Phase II = magnetic, resistance, GPR).

Calvary Cemetery: Three-dimensional subsurface imaging of a large 19th century tomb at a historic cemetery (GPR).
Gladstone Shops: Ground pentrating radar survey of a 19th century railroad roundhouse and associated shops (GPR).
Petaga Point : High-resolution survey of a Mdewaketon Dakota house feature dating to the late 17th - early 18th centuries (GPR, magnetic, resistance).
The Kutoyis Bison Kill: A late prehistoric/ancestral Blackfoot buffalo jump and processing camp in northern Montana (magnetic).
The Cambria Site : Large-area geophysical reconnaissance of a 19th century company coal mining town located in SE Kansas (magnetic, resistance).
The Eastep site: investigating prehistoric burned rock features in southeast Kansas (magnetic; resistance; GIS integration)
Mission San Antonio de Padua: a Colonial Spanish mission located in Monterey County, California. (GPR; magnetic; resistance)
Pine Tree Mound Site: a Caddoan archaeological site in NE Texas. (magnetic; resistance; GPR; excavation results)
The Buried City: a Plains Village period site in NW Texas. (magnetic; resistance, GPR, excavation results; radiocarbon dates; soil magnetic mineral analysis)
Mehaffey Site: a late Archaic Period site in western Iowa. (magnetic; excavation results; soil magnetic mineral analysis)
Historic Scots-Highlander Farmsteads: historic 19th century farmsteads and possible mid-18th century structures in North Carolina. (resistance; magnetic; soil magnetic mineral analysis)
Mahram Bilqis: an ancient Sabaean temple located near Marib, in the Republic of Yemen (GPR; magnetic)
Kanas Monument Site: historic Native American earth lodges in Kansas. Results will be used to guide excavations during the 2008 Kansas Archaeological Training Program field school (resistance; magnetic)
TAS Field Program 2008: geophysical results from three Middle Ceramic period settlements in NW Texas. Results will be used to guide excavations during the 2008 TAS field program (magnetic; resistance; EM conductivity)
San Buenaventura Mission: Spanish colonial mission and Victorian features beneath a modern parking lot in Ventura, California. Features animated imaging of 3D radar tomography (GPR)
Sharps Creek Council Circle: earthworks and other features at a proto-historic site in Kansas (magnetic)
Songbird Rings: stone (tipi) ring and hearth features at a prehistoric site on the High Plains (magnetic)
The Wyandotte County Cemetery: mapping unmarked graves at an historic cemetery in Kansas City, Kansas (magnetic; resistance)
Silver Bluf: an 18th century trading post and fort, South Carolina (GPR; magnetic; resistance)
Aphrodisias: a Greek/Roman urban center, Turkey (resistance)
San Marcos Pueblo historic mission, New Mexico (magnetic; resistance)
Garden Coulee: a 19th century Hidatsa village, North Dakota (magnetic; resistance)
The Huckins Site prehistoric campsite, Wyoming (magnetic; resistance)
Location of Human Burials (GPR; magnetic; resistance)
Sample Density and Resolution Illustrated: two case studies
Falling Creek Ironworks: an early 17th century industrial site, Chesterfield County, Virginia (GPR; magnetic; resistance)
Malodorous prehistoric campsite, Montana (magnetic)
Magnetic "Pollution" of Archaeological sites (magnetic)
Ellis Cemetery: an historic Euro-American cemetery, North Carolina (GPR)
Krasnyi-Yar: Copper Age Botai Culture settlement, Kazakhstan (magnetic; resistance)
30-30 Winchester prehistoric campsite, Wyoming (magnetic)
Tell Ahmar (Til Barsib) Syria (magnetic; resistance)
Fort Phil Kearny historic military site, Wyoming (magnetic)
Hidatsa Earth Lodges North Dakota (resistance)
Odessa-Yates late prehistoric village, Oklahoma (GPR; magnetic; resistance)
Kerkenes Dag Iron Age site, Turkey (magnetic)
Army City historic military site at Fort Riley, Kansas (resistance)
Chaves-Hummingbird Ruin Ancestral Pueblo site, New Mexico (magnetic; resistance)
Fort Laramie historic military site, Wyoming (resistance)
Shields Complex Ancestral Pueblo site, Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Colorado (resistance)
Prehistoric Houses at CA-ORA-116, California (magnetic; resistance)
Central Park 19th century brewery, Grand Forks, North Dakota (resistance)