North American Database of Archaeological Geophysics
North American Database of Archaeological Geophysics
Abstract/Summary:
Project Name: Kasita Town
Reference: Maki, David (2003). Ground Based Geophysical Investigations of Two Archaeological Sites 9CE1 (Kasita Town) and 38AK7 (Silver Bluff) Archaeo-physics report of Investigation Number 66. Prepared for the Center of Advanced Spatial Technologies, University of Arkansas.
The prehistoric Creek Indian village of Kasita is located under the present day Lawson Army Airfield on Fort Benning Military Reservation, Georgia. The town was considered a capitol peace town of the lower Creek Nation before its destruction through the construction of the army base. In 1739, James Edward Oglethorpe and the leaders of the Creek Nation carried out negotiations for nine days for a peace treaty garunteeing a wide section of land along the Atlantic coast belonging to the colonists. Lawson Field has experienced extensive disturbance since th occupation of Kasita Town. Some areas of the site have been subject to earthmoving or fill episodes related to airstrip construction and airfield drainage while other areas remain relatively undisturbed.
Archaeophysics, LLC was contracted by the University of Arkansas to conduct the geophysical survey for both Kasita Town (9CE1) and Silver Bluff Plantation (38AK7) between the dates of November 17-8 and December 9-11, 2003. Three geophysical instruments were employed at Kasita town over a 12,000 square meter area. The survey area was relatively flat, grass covered and free of major obstructions to geophysical data collection. The Geoscan Research FM36 fluxgate gradiometer, Geoscan Research RM-15 resistance meter, and the Sensors and Software pulseEkko 1000 with a center frequency of 450 Mhz were employed. The FM36 was operated in the 0.1 nT sensitivity range and data were collected using a transect spacing of .50m with 8 samples per meter. The resistance meter was operated in twin electrode configuration with a mobile probe spacing of .5 meters and a transect spacing of 1 meter. Both the magnetic and resistance surveys were done in a zig-zag mode. The GPR data were collected using a transect spacing of .50m with 20 traces per meter along each transect. Each GPR trace consists of data points within a 100 nanosecond time window. Data were recorded every .2 nanoseconds with this window, resulting in 500 data points per trace. GPR data were collected in transects running from south to north in a unidirectional manner.
A modern drainage pipe was picked up by all surveys, running through the survey area. Other results show a possible ditch feature in both the magnetic and resistance data and other linear features within the GPR data. A possible structure foundation was also discovered within the magnetic data indicating that it may have been burned and there is strong evidence for hearths within these structures. Examination of the statistical variance and average amplitude GPR time slice imagery suggests the ditch feature is relatively deep indicating an older feature then the historic period. Historic documents describing Kasita Town do not mention a stockade or enclosure, and there is no artifactual evidence of an older component to the site. This may be explained geologically as an old channel scar that have subsequently filled with soil that has higher magnetic susceptibility than the surrounding soils.