A selection of articles authored by Archaeo-Physics staff:
Lightning Induced Remanent Magnetization at the Buffalo Slough Burial Mound Complex
David Maki, Sigrid Arnott, Michael Bergervoet
The Minnesota Archaeologist
Geophysical survey of an archaeological site in Minnesota found numerous traces of these transient events within an ancient burial mound complex. Although the burial mounds were originally constructed 1000 years or more in the past, indigenous people continued to acknowledge these sites in ceremonies and mourning rituals into the present day. In this article we discuss the importance of lightning in the indigenous worldview and hypothesize that ancient landscape modifications were used to honor physical and metaphysical powers including lightning.
Every Rusty Nail is Sacred, Every Rusty Nail is Good
Mark Axel Tveskov, Chelsea Rose, Geoffrey Jones, David Maki
American Antiquity
Built by gold miners, Miners’ Fort overlooked the Pacific Ocean and was used significantly when the Tututni, Joshua, and Mikonotunne besieged it for a month during the Rogue River War of 1855–1856. Archaeological excavation targeting anomalies discovered through remote sensing revealed several features in context, including an indigenously designed hearth built by one or more Native American women who were wives of some settlers…
Conflict archaeology, remote sensing, and community engagement at a northwest coast settler fort
Geophysical mapping of historic cemeteries
Geoffrey Jones
Technical Briefs in Historical Archaeology
Although the non-invasive nature of geophysical survey recommends it for mapping unmarked graves, cemeteries can present a number of technical challenges. Case studies illustrating GPR, electrical resistance, and magnetic surveys on historic Euro-American cemeteries are presented, with discussion of the capabilities and limitations of the methods and their appropriate application.
David Maki
Geoarchaeology: An International Journal
Techniques of environmental magnetism were used to examine soil samples from a North American archaeological site in an effort to determine the source of magnetic field gradient anomalies. This analysis of soil samples was able to distinguish thermal magnetization of culturally burned features from natural lightning-induced magnetization of lightning strikes.
Geoffrey Jones and Gene Munson
Plains Anthropologist
Temporary campsites and artifact scatters are a perennial problem in archaeology. Meaningful data recovery is difficult because of sparse distributions of artifacts and features. Integrated with more traditional methods, geophysical prospection has proven to be very effective on many sites on the Great Plains.
David Maki
Southeastern Archaeology
A multisensor geophysical investigation of portions of the Pine Tree Mound site (41HS15) located in Harris County,Texas, was conducted prior to large-scale block excavations. This article presents the results of geophysical investigations and describes an online data analysis tool to simplify interpretation of these complex multivariate data and make it accessible to a broad audience. The article also compares the geophysical signal response with excavation results from the site.
Mapping Unmarked Graves at Layman’s Cemetery
Geoffrey Jones
Hennepin History
The Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota is the resting place of many of the area’s early Euro-American settlers. Geophysical techniques were used to map unmarked graves where grave markers were missing or misplaced. This investigation was undertaken as a study to improve detection methods for historic graves, but also illustrates both local history the roles of these techniques in archaeology more broadly.
Geoffrey Jones
American Surveyor
A discussion of geophysical prospection in archaeology, in the context of cultural resource management and development.
Lightning Induced Anomalies on Archaeological Sites
Geoffrey Jones, David Maki
Archaeological Prospection
Recent studies of known lightning impacts and laboratory testing of samples from a suspected lightning-induced anomaly appearing in magnetic survey data allow us to characterize these formerly enigmatic responses.
Brandi Bethke, María Nieves Zedeño, Geoffrey Jones, Matthew Pailes
Journal of Archaeological Science Reports
This report discusses the results of a magnetic survey, excavations, and faunal analysis undertaken at the Kutoyis Site (24GL366), a Late Prehistoric-period hunting complex located in Montana, to characterize processing activities associated with large-scale communal bison hunting.