Ch. 3 - Doing Fieldwork: Surveying For Archeological Sites

Question 1

Archaeological site

Answer 1

Any place where material evidence exists about the human past. Usually “site” refers to a concentration of such evidence.

Question 2

Projectile points

Answer 2

Arrowheads, dart points, or spear points.

Question 3

Mano

Answer 3

A fist-sized, round, flat, handheld stone used with a metate for grinding foods.

Question 4

Metate

Answer 4

A large, flat stone used as a stationary surface upon which seeds, tubers, and nuts are ground with a mano.

Question 5

Statistical sampling

Answer 5

The principles that underlie sampling strategies that provide accurate measures of a statistical population. The best way to ensure unbiased results.

Question 6

Statistical population

Answer 6

A set of counts, measures, or characteristics about which relevant inquiries are to be made.

Question 7

Sample universe

Answer 7

(Survey area)

The region that contains the statistical population and that will be sampled. It’s size and shape are determined by the research question and practical considerations.

Question 8

Random sample

Answer 8

A sample drawn from a statistical population such that every member of the population has an equal chance of being included in the sample. The only way an archaeologist can collect meaningful negative evidence. Permits us to analyze the results statistically.

Question 9

Sample fraction

Answer 9

The percentage of the sample universe that is surveyed. Areas with a lot of variability in archaeological remains require larger sample fractions than do areas with low variability. Size of the sample depends on characteristics of the population being sampled.

Question 10

Sample units

Answer 10

Survey units of a standard size and shape, determined by the research question and practical considerations, used to obtain the sample. Squares, circles, and transects are most commonly used.

Question 11

UTM

Answer 11

Universal Transverse Mercator, a grid system in which north and east coordinates provide a location anywhere in the world, precise to 1 meter.

Question 12

Stratified random sample

Answer 12

A survey universe divided into several sub-universes that are then sampled at potentially different sample fractions.

Question 13

Smithsonian number

Answer 13

A unique catalog number given to each site; it consists of a number (the state’s position alphabetically), a letter abbreviation for the county, and the site’s sequential number within that county.

Question 14

GPS

Answer 14

(Global positioning system)
Handheld devices that use triangulation from radio waves received from satellites to determine one’s current position in terms of either the UTM grid or latitude and longitude.

Question 15

Plow zone

Answer 15

The upper portion of a soil profile that has been disturbed by repeated plowing or other agricultural activity.

Question 16

Shovel-testing

Answer 16

A sample survey method used in regions where rapid soil buildup obscures buried archaeological remains; it entails digging shallow, systematic pits across the survey unit.

Question 17

Remote sensing

Answer 17

The application of methods that employ some form of electromagnetic energy to detect and measure characteristics of an archaeological target. Aerial photography (balloons, airplanes, space shuttle, and satellites).

Question 18

Proton precession magnetometer

Answer 18

A remote sensing technique that measures the strength of magnetism between the earths magnetic core and a sensor controlled by the archaeologist. Magnetic anomalies can indicate the presence of buried walls or features. If hundreds of these readings are taken across a systematic grid, a computer plotter can generate a magnetic contour map showing shape and intensity of underground anomalies.

Question 19

Soil resistivity survey

Answer 19

A remote sensing technique that monitors the electrical resistance of soils in a restricted volume near the surface of an archaeological site; buried walls or features can be detected by changes in the amount of resistance registered by the resistivity meter.
Factors affecting degree of soil resistivity:
- amount of water retained in the soil
- compaction

Question 20

GPR

Answer 20

(Ground-penetrating radar)

A remote sensing technique in which radar pulses directed into the ground reflect back to the surface when they strike features or interfaces within the ground, showing the presence and depth of possible buried features.

Question 21

GIS

Answer 21

(Geographic information system)

A computer program for storing, retrieving, analyzing, and displaying cartographic data. Developed in the late 1980s.
Consists of 3 primary components:
1- powerful computer graphics program
2- one or more external databases
3- set of analytical tools

Question 22

Georeferenced

Answer 22

Data that are input to a GIS database using a common mapping reference – for example, the UTM grid – so that all data can be spatially analyzed.

Question 23

Landscape archaeology

Answer 23

The study of ancient human modification of the environment. Developed in the 1940s, but drastically increase with the invention of GIS.

Example - Chaco Canyon roads discovery

Question 24

TIMS

Answer 24

(Thermal infrared multispectral scanning)

A remote sensing technique that uses equipment mounted on an aircraft or satellites to measure infrared thermal radiation given off by the ground. Sensitive to differences as small as 0.1 degree centigrade, it can locate subsurface structures by tracking how they affect surface thermal radiation.

Used at Chaco Canyon site.

Question 25

“Gumshoe survey”

Answer 25

Finding an archaeological site by a fortunate combination of happenstance, hard work, and luck. Listening to those who know more about the landscape than you do. Term coined by James O’Connell. Example - Gatecliff Shelter in Nevada.

Question 26

“Layer-cake stratigraphy”

Answer 26

When flash floods periodically inundate the shelter, the surging waters lay down thick layers of rock-hard silt. Separates the deposits into clean occupational “floors.”

Question 27

Surface archaeology

Answer 27

Spot an artifact, plot it’s location in your field notes, pick it up, and label it – no digging!

Question 28

“Wattle-and-daub” technique

Answer 28

Fresh cut timbers were set vertically along the walls and reinforced with cane woven horizontally between the uprights (wattlework). This sturdy wattlework was then plastered (daubed) with a mixture of marsh mud, sand, and plant fibers. Roofs were thatched with palmetto. BIODEGRADABLE.

Question 29

Transducers

Answer 29

Devices that convert electrical energy into electromagnetic waves. Allows a researcher applying GPR to direct the greatest degree of resolution to the depth of specific interest.

Question 30

Chaco Canyon site

Answer 30

TIMS technology was used by NASA to virtually uncover a vast road network that was constructed approximately 925-860 years ago. As many as 600 km of ancient roadways have been discovered. These roadways covered more than 250,000 square km.