HR: 0800h
AN: NS51C-09    [Abstracts]
TI: Electrical Resistivity and Archaeology Near Barrow, Alaska
AU: * Herman, R
EM: rherman@radford.edu
AF: Radford University, Department of Chemistry and Physics, Radford, VA 24142, United States
AU: Jensen, A M
EM: anne.jensen@uicscience.org
AF: UIC Science LLC, PO Box 577, Barrow, AK 99723, United States
AB: A capacitively coupled resistivity survey was conducted on an archaeological site near Barrow, Alaska in June of 2006. The purpose of this survey was to determine the effectiveness of resistivity studies in determining locations of near-surface burials and other features of interest. This survey was performed on an area 14mx160m, with line spacings of 1 meter. Data was acquired at 6 depths with the nearest to the surface being obtained with an unusually-short n-spacing of (n/4). This allowed for visualization of subsurface features as small as ~20cm, and at depths as shallow as ~20cm. The greatest depths seen were ~2m below the surface. The data was processed in a preliminary fashion during the course of the survey and several near-surface features were seen that were consistent with burials. Upon inspection, the surface vegetation and small-scale topography were visually consistent with burials. An archaeological team dug pits in three of these areas and all three were determined to be burial sites. 3-D inversion processing was carried out after the field season. Comparisons with archaeological field data indicate that all graves encountered in that portion of the survey area tested corresponded to anomalies on the 3-D images.
DE: 0999 General or miscellaneous
SC: Near-Surface Geophysics [NS]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly