scholarly journals Metal Detection, An Essential Remote Sensing Approach for Historical Archaeologists

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Charles Haecker ◽  
Douglas Scott ◽  
Patrick Severts
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Historical Archaeology ◽  
Data Recovery ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Archaeological Survey ◽  
Historic Sites ◽  
Metal Artifacts ◽  
Survey Techniques ◽  
Metal Detection ◽  
Metal Detectors

Over the last thirty years, metal detection has become an essential tool in historical archaeology, yet the majority of archaeologists still know relatively little about metal detectors. In this review we trace the increasing use of metal detectors in archaeological survey and research following several notable successes in archaeological surveys that proved their worth. To understand the differences between the two basic types of metal detectors used by archaeologists we briefly explain how they function and what their relative strengths and weaknesses are for archaeological research. Metal detectors are most commonly used in archaeological survey and after offering examples of how they have proved useful in recent Colorado research we lay out a methodology for a successful metal detection survey. In many ways the survey techniques, sampling designs, and intensive data recovery principles for metal detection work are akin to those principles and techniques used in standard archaeological research. These principles simply have been adapted to take advantage of the capabilities offered by this remote sensing device for discovering unseen historic sites and for better understanding how the patterning in metal artifacts at battle sites, historic trails, and Indian encampments sometimes can offer a totally new view of history.

Sleeping with the “Enemy”

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Reeves
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Program ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Metal Detector ◽  
Survey Techniques ◽  
Hands On ◽  
History Of ◽  
Metallic Artifact ◽  
Metal Detectors ◽  
Proper Context

AbstractIn 2012, the Archaeology Department at James Madison’s Montpelier began an experimental program with Minelab Americas to encourage metal detectorists to become more involved in the scientific process of archaeological research. Specifically, the program is designed to be a week-long experience in which archaeologists and metal detectorists work together to identify and preserve archaeological sites at the 2,700-acre Montpelier property. In the process, the metal detector participants are taught the importance of site preservation through background lectures and hands-on field training in which they use their metal detectors as a remote sensing device. Participants learn how gridded metal detector surveys are conducted and the importance of proper context and curation of recovered objects. The team-based approach of our program has resulted in a co-creation process whereby metal detectorists bring to the table their skills in using their machines to identify subtle metallic artifact signals and archaeologists bring the skill of systematic survey techniques to map and record archaeological sites. In the end, teamwork encourages open and frank discussions regarding the interface between metal detecting and the archaeological communities and has gone a long way toward reconciling differences between these two groups who have a long history of strained relations.

The Importance of Interpretation in Historical Archaeology

1979 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Harrington
Keyword(s):  
Special Reference ◽  
Historical Archaeology ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Historic Sites ◽  
Contract Archaeology ◽  
Different Levels

There is a growing concern over the lack of adequate interpretation in reports on the excavation of historic sites, particularly on contract projects. This paper points out the importance of interpretation as an integral part of archaeological research. As a possible aid in securing better reports, interpretation, beyond simple identification, is divided into three levels, each calling for some degree of personal judgment, ranging from immediate inferences to broad generalizations. Examples of recent archaeological reports illustrating different levels of interpretation are described, and ways of securing more adequate interpretation are discussed, with special reference to contract archaeology.

scholarly journals Remote sensing, landscape and archaeology tracing ancient tracks and roads between Palmyra and the Euphrates in Syria

2015 ◽  
Vol II-5/W3 ◽  
pp. 279-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Silver ◽  
M. Törmä ◽  
K. Silver ◽  
J. Okkonen ◽  
M. Nuñez
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Water Harvesting ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Archaeological Survey ◽  
Communication Framework ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
The Silk Road

The present paper concentrates on the use of remote sensing by satellite imagery for detecting ancient tracks and roads in the area between Palmyra and the Euphrates in Syria. The Syrian desert was traversed by caravans already in the Bronze Age, and during the Greco-Roman period the traffic increased with the Silk Road and trade as well as with military missions annexing the areas into empires. SYGIS - the Finnish archaeological survey and mapping project traced, recorded and documented ancient sites and roads in the region of Jebel Bishri in Central Syria in 2000-2010 before the outbreak of the civil war in Syria. Captured data of ancient roads and bridge points bring new light to the study of ancient communication framework in the area. Archaeological research carried out by the project on the ground confirmed the authenticity of many road alignments, new military and water harvesting sites as well as civilian settlements, showing that the desert-steppe area was actively used and developed probably from the second century AD. The studies further demonstrated that the area between Palmyra and the Euphrates was militarily more organised already in the second and third centuries AD than earlier believed. Chronologically, the start of this coincided with the “golden age” of the Palmyrene caravans in the second century AD. Topography and landscape were integral parts of the construction of graves/tumuli as sign-posts guiding in the desert, as well as roads and all kinds of settlements whether military or civilian.

An Archaeological Survey of Caves in Washington

1954 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 387-389
Author(s):  
Earl Swanson ◽  
Alan Bryan
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Archaeological Survey ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Columbia Plateau ◽  
Long Period ◽  
Western Washington ◽  
The University ◽  
Private Collections

During a long period of the time when archaeological research was in progress in other areas of North America, the Columbia Plateau and western Washington lay relatively untouched and unknown. Only recently have systematic studies been undertaken by the University of Washington.The archaeological survey of cave sites in Washington, during the summer of 1952, is a part of those studies. The plan was to locate as many caves as possible, to determine if they had been occupied aboriginally, and to evaluate them with an eye to future excavation.Prior to the field work, reports had been received of caves in various parts of Washington, but the total was small, and we had little expectation of swelling the known number. Many of these had been learned of through newspaper clippings and letters, and from amateur activities. The problem, then, was not simply to examine a few choice caves for testing and excavation, but of surveying a large area in order to initiate an immediate program of excavation to save what remained. In addition to the survey of the caves, the University provided money for the examination of private collections.

scholarly journals Registro arqueológico y contextualización histórica de los tajamares del río Mapocho, Santiago de Chile

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (8) ◽  
pp. 275-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfredo Gómez Alcorta ◽  
Claudia Prado Berlien ◽  
Francisco José Ocaranza Bosio
Keyword(s):  
Historical Archaeology ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Colonial History ◽  
Santiago De Chile ◽  
Climatic Risks ◽  
Del Rio

Este estudio es un esfuerzo de contextualización historiográfica a los hallazgos de los restos del tajamar de Santiago (Chile), por el trabajo arqueológico realizado en las obras de construcción del ferrocarril urbano de esta ciudad. El artículo deja al descubierto el permanente esfuerzo que realizó la población santiaguina por defender su ciudad de los riesgos climáticos de inundación durante los siglos coloniales.Palabras clave: historia colonial, arqueología histórica, tajamares, obras hidráulicas.Archaeological record and historical context of the Mapocho river defense, Chile Abstract This study is an effort of the historical context to the findings of the remains of the “tajamar” (defenses of river) of Santiago for the archaeological research realized by the works of construction of the urban railroad of this city. This study leaves to the overdraft the permanent effort that the population realized for defending his city of the climatic risks of flood during the colonial centuries.Keywords: colonial history, historical archaeology, defenses of river, hydraulic works.

scholarly journals ROMAN COIN FINDS FROM VOLHYNIA: MAIN CATEGORIES AND DISTRIBUTION FEATURES (to the problem of regional study)

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-42
Author(s):  
K. V. Myzgin
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Basic Information ◽  
Information Analysis ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
Regional Study ◽  
Roman Coins ◽  
Distribution Features ◽  
Metal Detectors ◽  
The Right

The article is an experience of regional study of Roman coins finds on the territory of Eastern Europe. The basic information about them was collected and published in the middle of the 20th century. However, today this source base has significantly expanded. Basically, due to the use of metal detectors during archaeological research and, unfortunately, for illegal purposes (such finds are called «less reliable», their use is obligatory, however, provided a critical approach to information). Analysis of the main categories of Roman coins finds in the region made it possible to distinguish features in their distribution. Basically, Volhynia are is outside the concentration of the main categories of finds of Roman coins in Eastern Barbaricum: Roman republican coins, 1—2nd c. AD denarii, 1—3rd c. AD aurei, 2—3rd AD bronze provincial coins, antoniniani and bronze and silver emissions of 4th c. AD. Nevertheless, the concentration of the 4th c. AD Roman gold medallions is associated with this region (in article published a new find of such coin), which indicates here the existence of the centre of the barbarous elite. In general, the numismatic material of the Volhynia region is typical for the territory of the right bank of Dnieper. At the same time, do not forget that Volhynia, like all territory of Eastern Barbaricum, in Roman period was part of the German cultural circle, in which Roman coins were universal.

Sugar Plantations in the French West Indies

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth G. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Historical Archaeology ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
West Indies ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Public Monuments ◽  
Saint Domingue ◽  
History Of ◽  
French Colonial ◽  
Official Recognition

The French West Indian colonial possessions of Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Saint Domingue were among the most valuable overseas European colonies due to the production of the tropical commodities of coffee, cocoa, and in particular, sugar. The crops were raised on plantations through the labor of hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans and their descendants between the mid 17th century and the mid 19th century. In spite of the importance of this heritage to the history of the French colonial enterprise, and more importantly, the history of the descendant populations, commemoration of this chapter of history has only recently begun. This commemoration includes public monuments, official recognition, and archaeological research. Historical archaeology contributes a perspective that sheds light on otherwise undocumented or poorly-documented aspects of the slavery era, such as the organization of villages, the housing within them, and the ways in which enslaved people saw to their needs for food.

Climate and Holocene culture change: some practical problems

1990 ◽  
Vol 330 (1615) ◽  
pp. 657-663 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Deep Sea ◽  
Archaeological Survey ◽  
Climatic Parameters ◽  
Human Settlement ◽  
Temperature Variations ◽  
Survey Techniques ◽  
The Past ◽  
Oxygen Isotope Ratios ◽  
Agricultural Revolution ◽  
Specific Species

In recent years, not least through tree-ring studies for the Holocene and studies of oxygen isotope ratios in Foramenifera in deep-sea cores for the Pleistocene, both linked with radioactive chronometry, useful and well-dated information has become available for global temperature variations. Yet we seem at present little closer to understanding the climatic influences upon human settlement, or upon such major episodes in human existence as the agricultural revolution or the emergence of pastoral economies. In making reference to the developments in archaeological survey techniques over the past 20 years, and the increasing collaboration with geomorphologists and settlement geographers, I seek to highlight the gap in the chain of argument between data for global climatic parameters and impact on human communities. Where are the phytologists, the ecologists, the crop plant geographers? Where is the necessary focus upon the crucial themes of changing microclimates and changing agricultural productivity for specific species? An attempt is made to define more closely this deficiency.

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