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A geophysical investigation of subsurface structures and Quaternary geology at San Marcos Pueblo, New Mexico
Author(s) -
Hinz Emily A.,
Ferguson John F.,
Pellerin Louise,
Ramenofsky Ann F.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
archaeological prospection
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.785
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1099-0763
pISSN - 1075-2196
DOI - 10.1002/arp.337
Subject(s) - geology , terrace (agriculture) , seismic refraction , ground penetrating radar , excavation , archaeology , quaternary , structural basin , natural (archaeology) , geophysics , debris , geomorphology , radar , paleontology , oceanography , geography , telecommunications , computer science
San Marcos Pueblo site (LA 98), located in the Galisteo Basin south of Santa Fe, New Mexico, encompasses the remains of 43 identified room blocks, a Spanish mission and 20 middens. As part of ongoing field investigations at San Marcos, students and faculty from the Summer of Applied Geophysical Experience (SAGE) field programme are using multiple geophysical techniques to non‐invasively investigate the site. Modelling of the underlying Quaternary stream terrace geology and the detection of subsurface Pueblo‐era features were accomplished through the integrated interpretation of data from seismic refraction and reflection, electromagnetic, magnetic and ground‐penetrating radar methods. Although to date only a targeted spatially small extent of the site has been explored using these methods, the SAGE field programme has been able detect a variety of anthropogenic structures and debris. The SAGE field programme validated the presence of excavations in the natural stream terrace sequence over areas believed to contain kivas, mapped the geometry of walls over a closed room block, and detected an area of magnetized debris associated with smelting operations. Collectively, the data from the SAGE field programme demonstrate the value of using multiple, complementary, geophysical methods for archaeological prospection. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.