North American Database of Archaeological Geophysics
North American Database of Archaeological Geophysics
Abstract/Summary:
Project Name: 38SU232, SC;
Reference: Zeidler, J.A. (1997). A Cost/Benefit Analysis of Geophysical Prospecting for Phase II Archaeological Site Assessment at Poinsett Electronic Combat Range, Sumter County, South Carolina. Cultural Resources Research Center, Land Management Laboratory, U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, Champaign, Illinois. Prepared for Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina.
This report presents the results of a cost/benefit analysis comparing two alternative strategies for conducting National Register eligibility assessments of archaeological sites on the Poinsett Electronic Combat Range, Sumter County, South Carolina. Its objective is to determine whether the use of geophysical prospecting and targeted anomaly ground-truthing can increase the reliability, information return, and cost-effectiveness of National Register eligibility assessments over the traditional approach to site assessment based on manual excavation of multiple test units. The present study is the third in a series of three project reports and provides a synthesis and discussion of two previous studies dealing with a traditional Phase II assessment of two archaeological sites and geophysical prospecting surveys conducted at four archaeological sites on the Poinsett Range. Special emphasis is placed on a comparison of the traditional and geophysical approaches conducted at a large, multicomponent, prehistoric site (38SU45) and a small historic period homestead site (38SU147). Although the physiographic conditions and degree of archaeological preservation at Poinsett were not especially optimal for successful geophysical prospecting, the outcome of the geophysical surveys and limited ground-truthing excavations at these two sites yielded encouraging results. The report concludes with an evaluation of the potential advantages and disadvantages of the two approaches and argues that the geophysical approach merits further exploration as a cost-effective method for conducting Phase II site assessments, even in sub-optimal conditions such as those presented by the Sand Hills physiographic province of South Carolina. Finally, a number of "lessons learned" are highlighted as a means of improving the execution of geophysical surveys, anomaly ground-truthing, and feature recognition in archaeological applications of this nature.