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·怀特博士将购买三件主要的地球物理遥感设备，用于考古研究和训练：探地雷达（GPR）装置、梯度仪和电阻率仪。这些仪器以有效和非侵入的方式收集近地表考古沉积物的数据。探地雷达利用无线电波主动探测地球深处几米。梯度仪探测到地球自然磁场的波动，这种波动是由文化材料的存在引起的，比如烧制的粘土或加热过的岩石。电阻率计测量沉积物在表面两点之间传导电流的能力。所有这些仪器都有其优点和缺点。它们在结合使用时通常是最有效的。土著居民的房屋结构、土堤防和土丘、沟渠、壁炉、储存坑和保存在地表以下的食品加工设施，通常可以使用一种或多种这些仪器来检测和识别。关于社区布局的信息（例如，住宅结构、防御结构及其开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调查技术，几乎不可能在大范围内（遗址水平）仔细、经济有效地收集有关这些特征位置的详细信息。除了用于纯粹的研究之外，IPFW- as所要求的最先进的仪器将被用作整合IPFW的专业和学生考古团体的工具。将这些设备整合到正在进行的考古研究项目和现有的教育计划中，将增强这两个地区的基础设施，并有助于鼓励学生探索和研究的文化。收集，使用和分析地球物理仪器和数据将在现场和实验室课程的背景下教授。与更传统的考古研究不同，地球物理数据的收集不需要对考古资源进行不可逆转的改变，也不需要相应的许可、实验室和管理要求。因此，地球物理数据非常适合用于学生的研究项目。让本科生参与到持续的探索和创新的氛围中，将有利于学生的学术发展，也有利于研究本身。IPFW- as获得这些仪器将对IPFW的本科生和专业研究人员进行复杂考古研究的能力产生重大影响。通过将地球物理方法的训练整合到实验室和实地课程中，并鼓励在有监督的本科生研究项目中使用地球物理方法，学生将有动力发展和追求自己的研究。此外，获得所需的设备将增加我们未来几年的研究能力，从而增加研究人员、学生和公众之间有益互动的机会。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、解说中心和管理设施。获得这些地球物理测量仪器将使IPFW-AS的项目继续扩大，并使越来越多的受众参与到一个积极的、复杂的、成功的考古研究和教育项目中来。

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.