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A magnetic susceptibility logger for archaeological application
Author(s) -
Dalan Rinita A.
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<263::aid-gea1004>3.0.co;2-m
Subject(s) - coring , geology , section (typography) , holocene , archaeology , magnetic susceptibility , paleontology , data logger , drilling , geography , engineering , advertising , computer science , business , operating system , physics , quantum mechanics , mechanical engineering
Investigations of magnetic susceptibility have been used to (1) define sites, activity areas, features, buried soils, and cultural layers, (2) build and correlate stratigraphic sequences, and (3) understand site‐formation and postdepositional processes. Archaeologists are limited in these endeavors, however, by the instruments available for field studies of susceptibility. A prototype instrument developed for archaeological application logs volume magnetic susceptibility down a small‐diameter (ca. 2.2 cm) core‐hole made with a push‐tube corer. Measurements can be made rapidly, approximately 10 times faster than collecting samples either by coring or from an exposed section, to depths of 1.6 m below the surface. The prototype logger was field‐tested on a mid‐Holocene stratigraphic section in southeastern North Dakota where it clearly distinguished various soils and sediments, including a buried occupation layer. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.