RUI: Acquisition of Geophysical Survey Instruments for Archaeological Research and Training

在国家科学基金会主要研究仪器奖的支持下，印第安纳大学-普渡大学考古调查局(IPFW-AS)的罗伯特·G·麦卡洛博士和安德鲁·A·怀特博士将购买三种主要的地球物理遥感设备，用于考古研究和培训：探地雷达(GPR)单元、梯度仪和电阻率仪。这些仪器被用来以高效和非侵入性的方式收集关于近地表考古沉积的数据。探地雷达使用无线电波主动探测地球，深度可达几米。梯度计探测由于文化材料的存在而引起的地球自然磁场的波动，例如烧制的粘土或加热的岩石。电阻率计测量沉积物在表面两点之间传导电流的情况。所有这些工具都有它们的优点和缺点。当它们结合使用时往往是最有效的。保存在地表下的土著房屋结构、土堤和土丘、沟渠、壁炉、储藏坑和食品加工设施通常可以使用一个或多个这样的仪器来检测和识别。关于社区布局的信息(例如，住宅结构、防御性结构及其洞口和公共区域的数量和位置)对于解释大型、复杂的村庄遗址至关重要。仅使用传统的挖掘和测量技术几乎不可能仔细、经济地收集大规模(遗址层面)这些特征位置的详细信息。除了在纯研究中的应用外，IPFW-AS要求的最先进的仪器将被用作整合IPFW的专业和学生考古界的工具。将这些设备纳入正在进行的考古研究项目和现有的教育计划将加强这两个领域的基础设施，并有助于鼓励学生探索和研究的文化。地球物理仪器和数据的收集、使用和分析将在野外和实验室课程中讲授。与更传统的考古研究不同，地球物理数据的收集不需要不可逆转地改变考古资源以及随之而来的许可证、实验室和管理要求。因此，地球物理数据非常适合用于学生研究项目。本科生参与正在进行的探索和创新的氛围将有利于学生的学术发展以及研究本身。IPFW获得这些仪器-AS将对IPFW的本科生和专业研究人员进行复杂的考古研究的能力产生重大影响。通过将地球物理方法培训纳入实验室和实地课程，并鼓励在受监督的本科生研究项目中使用地球物理方法，将激励学生发展和从事自己的研究。此外，购买所需的设备将在未来几年增加我们的研究能力，从而增加研究人员、学生和公众之间进行有益互动的机会。在正在进行的研究项目的背景下，IPFW-AS一直在与感兴趣的公众以及州和地方政府机构建立牢固的关系，以在印第安纳州中部建立一个考古研究公园、解释中心和管理设施。购买这些地球物理测量仪器将使IPFW-AS的计划继续扩大，并使越来越多的受众参与到一个积极、复杂和成功的考古研究和教育计划中。

With support from the National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation award, Dr. Robert G. McCullough and Andrew A. White of the Indiana University-Purdue University Archaeological Survey (IPFW-AS) will purchase three major pieces of geophysical remote sensing equipment for use in archaeological research and training: a ground penetrating radar (GPR) unit, a gradiometer, and a resistivity meter. These instruments are used to collect data about near-surface archaeological deposits in an efficient and non-invasive manner. GPR uses radio waves to actively probe the earth to depths up to several meters. A gradiometer detects fluctuations in the earth's natural magnetic field caused by the presence of cultural materials such as fired clay or rock that has been heated. A resistivity meter measures how well sediment conducts an electrical current between two points on the surface. All of these instruments have their advantages and shortcomings. They are often most effective when used in combination.Aboriginal house structures, earthen embankments and mounds, ditches, hearths, storage pits, and food processing facilities that are preserved beneath the ground surface are often detectable and identifiable using one or more of these instruments. Information about community layout (e.g., the number and placement of domestic structures, defensive structures and their openings, and communal areas) is essential to the interpretation of large, complex village sites. Detailed information about the locations of such features on a large (site-level) scale is nearly impossible to carefully, cost-effectively collect using traditional excavation and survey techniques alone.In addition to their application in pure research, the state-of-the-art instruments requested by the IPFW-AS will be used as a vehicle to integrate the professional and student archaeological communities at IPFW. The incorporation of the equipment into ongoing archaeological research projects and the existing educational program will enhance infrastructure in both these areas and assist in encouraging a culture of student exploration and research. Collection, use, and analysis of geophysical instruments and data will be taught in the context of both field and laboratory classes. Unlike more traditional archaeological research, the collection of geophysical data does not entail the irreversible alteration of archaeological resources and the attendant permit, laboratory, and curation requirements. Thus geophysical data are ideally suited to use in student research projects. Involvement of undergraduate students in an ongoing atmosphere of exploration and innovation will benefit the scholarly development of the students as well as the research itself.Acquisition of these instruments by the IPFW-AS will have a significant impact on the capacity of both undergraduate student and professional researchers at IPFW to perform sophisticated archaeological research. By integrating training in geophysical methods into laboratory and field courses, as well as encouraging its use in the context of supervised undergraduate research projects, students will be motivated to develop and pursue their own research. Further, acquisition of the requested equipment will increase our research capacity for years to come, thus increasing opportunities for beneficial interactions among researchers, students, and the public. In the context of ongoing research projects, the IPFW-AS has been building strong relationships with the interested public as well as state and local government agencies to develop an archaeological research park, interpretive center, and curation facility in central Indiana. Acquisition of these geophysical survey instruments will allow the IPFW-AS's programs to continue to expand and to involve an ever-broadening audience in an active, sophisticated, and successful program of archaeological research and education.