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Geomorphic and pedogenic evidence for bioturbation of artifacts at a multicomponent site in Licking County, Ohio, U.S.A.
Author(s) -
Frolking Tod A.,
Lepper Bradley T.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
geoarchaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1520-6548
pISSN - 0883-6353
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6548(200103)16:3<243::aid-gea1003>3.0.co;2-v
Subject(s) - bioturbation , geology , bedrock , holocene , sediment , pedogenesis , period (music) , woodland , erosion , horizon , topsoil , colluvium , geomorphology , paleosol , hydrology (agriculture) , soil water , physical geography , loess , soil science , paleontology , geography , physics , botany , geotechnical engineering , astronomy , biology , acoustics
The distribution of artifacts at the multi‐component (Paleoindian through Middle Woodland) Munson Springs site (33Li251) is best explained by downward migration of objects through bioturbation processes rather than by a vertical sequence of occupation surfaces through a period of sediment accretion. At the noncultivated, 1800 m 2 , footslope site, the distribution of glacial diamict, loess, and drift‐ and bedrock‐derived colluvium indicate widespread slope erosion during the late‐glacial period with general backslope and footslope stability during the Holocene. Diagnostic Paleoindian artifacts were recovered from a BE soil horizon lying directly below fill material of a small (8 × 10 m) Early Woodland mound. Based on soil fine clay distribution, these artifacts lay about 30 cm below the premound land surface. Woodland artifacts are concentrated at depths of 10–20 cm immediately down slope from the mound. Soil horizonation and total and fine clay distributions within footslope profiles indicate no significant sediment accretion through the period of soil genesis and prehistoric site occupation. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.