Abby Varner, an archaeologist who will be receiving a masters in geography from the University of Kansas in May of 2005, used PowerPoint to explain her research into the soil signatures of Santa Fe Trail ruts.
Varner Spoke At December 2004 Program
Soil Signature Studies
Through soil analysis, archaeologists can help date sites, learn about the environment at the time the soil layers were formed, and discern how soil layers were formed. Studies of soil fertility, for example, help archaeologists understand how efficient ancient agricultural systems were.
National Trail Official See Possible Uses of Soil Signature Studies
John Conoboy, a National Park Service administrator in the NPS Santa Fe Trail office in Santa Fe, New Mexico, saw a press release about Abby Varner speaking at the December KCAS meeting. The Kansas City area chapter of the Santa Read More …
The Soil Science and Archaeo-geophysics Alliance (SAGA): Going Beyond Prospection
Archaeological sites can be discovered and recorded in a high-resolution and non-invasive manner using geophysical methods. These measure the spatial variation of a range of physical properties of the soil which may be representative proxies of the subsurface archaeology. Less-invasive Read More …