North American Database of Archaeological Geophysics
North American Database of Archaeological Geophysics
Abstract/Summary:
Project Name: 48TE1077, WY;
Reference: Butler, W.B. and S.L. DeVore. (1995). Geophysical Investigations at Five Sites Along the Wilson-Fall Creek Road, Wyoming. National Park Service, Rocky Mountain System Support Office, Denver, Colorado. Submitted to the Central Federal Lands Highway Division, Federal Highway Administration, Denver, Colorado.
Geophysical investigations with a resistance meter and fluxgate gradiometer were conducted on five prehistoric sites along the Fall Creek Road south of the town of Wilson, Wyoming. The purpose of this work was to derive a mitigation plan to maximize data recovery while reducing overall excavation costs. Results of the resistance prospection were less than hoped for in that the meter only detected a field road and a possible paleo stream channel. The gradiometer pointed out several anomalies that might be prehistoric hearths. It is recommended that these identified anomalies be used in devising a mitigation plan for sites to be impacted by construction.
In 1998, further investigations were completed on potential sites of importance first recorded in the Wilson-Fall Creek Road survey. Magnetic susceptibility measurements were taken on core samples from different excavation blocks. These samples were brought back to the Midwest Archeological Center in Lincoln, Nebraska for testing. The magnetic susceptibility measurements provided complimentary data for stratigraphic profiles, geoarcheological analysis, and artifact analysis.