Determining village extent and layout utilizing geophysical survey and excavation at the Mississippian site of Cane River, North Carolina

Geophysical techniques can help to clarify the extent of a site and show spatial relationships between structures, therefore guiding research and excavation strategies. When monuments and larger structural elements are absent, feature density can be a reliable proxy for occupation areas and village boundaries. Utilizing a combination of magnetometry and ground-penetrating radar survey at the Cane River site in North Carolina, we were able to locate borrow pits, storage pits, structures, and hearth features that are not readily detected using traditional archaeological methods. Subsequent coring and excavations over these geophysical anomalies provided evidence for continuity in village layout and allowed us to sample a variety of feature types, illuminating temporal and spatial patterns in community activities. This research has implications for understanding regional variability in Mississippian community social practices throughout the Appalachian Summit of North Carolina. SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.地球物理勘探技术有助于明确遗址范围，揭示各类遗迹间的空间关联，进而为考古研究与发掘方案制定提供指导。当遗址无明显遗迹或大型结构遗存时，遗迹密度可作为判断人类活动区域与村落边界的可靠替代指标。本研究针对北卡罗来纳州凯恩河遗址，结合磁测法（magnetometry）与探地雷达（ground-penetrating radar）开展勘探，成功定位了传统考古方法难以直接侦测的取土坑、储藏坑、建筑遗存与灶址遗迹。后续针对上述地球物理异常区域开展的钻探取芯与发掘工作，不仅证实了村落布局的延续性，还为多种遗迹类型的采样提供了条件，进而阐明了社群活动的时空分布模式。本研究有助于深化对北卡罗来纳州阿巴拉契亚山巅地带密西西比文化（Mississippian）社群社会实践区域差异的认识。 本摘要收录于2015年美国考古学会（Society for American Archaeology，SAA）年会论文集，由美国考古学会与古物数字化中心（Center for Digital Antiquity）联合发起的考古数字数据优化协作项目资助并发布于tDAR平台。若您为本展示内容的作者，可免费上传本人的论文、海报、演示文稿或相关关联数据（最多3个文件，总大小不超过30MB）。如需了解操作指引与更多详情，请访问http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015。