Dissertation Improvement Grant- Archaeological and Geophysical Investigations of the Grove's Creek Site (09CH71), Skidaway Island, Georgia

在国家科学基金会的支持下，Deborah Keene女士将在Ervan Garrison博士的指导下进行博士论文研究。 该项目以格罗夫溪遗址为中心，这是一个可以追溯到密西西比时期（公元1000-1580年）的美国土著村庄。 格罗夫溪遗址位于格鲁吉亚萨凡纳附近的斯基德韦岛。 这个项目有两个目标。 第一种方法是将联合收割机地球物理数据与地理信息系统结合起来，绘制一张场地的地下地图。 第二是确定格罗夫溪遗址的居民是否全年或季节性地居住在那里。目前的考古学方法本质上是破坏性的;因此，任何丢失的信息都永远无法恢复。 利用有限的挖掘来完善绘图程序将使考古遗址得到更好的保护。 这一测绘程序的第一步是收集浅层地球物理数据。 在格罗夫溪项目期间，测量了土壤的电导率和磁性。 具有考古意义的遗迹，如烹饪炉和烧过的粘土，会导致周围土壤的导电性和磁性更高。 绘制所有数据后，将创建等高线图，其中可以看到这些较高的读数。 等高线的大小和形状提供了线索，说明是什么地下特征创造了它们。 我们使用这些信息来预测考古遗迹的类型，然后进行挖掘以测试其中的几个预测。 最终，这个过程可以用来绘制一个考古遗址的地图，只需很少的挖掘。虽然格鲁吉亚海岸沿着有许多重要的密西西比遗址，但它们仍然没有被完全了解。 目前有相当大的分歧，密西西比人是否是真正的农业家，可以住在他们的村庄全年或仍然必须做一些狩猎和采集，所以旅行了一年的一部分。 应采用三种方法来确定格罗夫溪的居民是否全年或季节性地居住在那里。 第一个是看现场的植物和动物遗骸。 不同的动物和植物在一年中的不同时间。 例如，某些水果只在秋天才有，某些鱼在特定的月份迁移到附近。 通过确定该地点的动物和植物以及它们可供食用的时间，我们可以确定该地点何时被占用。 二是研究网站架构。 在许多密西西比社区，有证据表明夏季和冬季的房子。 在该遗址已经发现了两座冬季房屋，如果发现一座夏季房屋，那将表明该遗址全年都有人居住。 最后一种确定职业的方法是通过牡蛎壳的同位素分析。 通过测量贝壳生长层中的氧同位素，可以确定水温，从而确定动物被杀死的时间。 对多个贝壳的分析将确定该遗址是在什么季节被占领的，该项目不仅将制定保护考古遗址的测绘程序，还将解决对了解美洲土著文化的沿海生存和定居模式至关重要的问题。

With National Science Foundation support, Ms. Deborah Keene will conduct doctoral dissertation research under the direction of Dr. Ervan Garrison. The project centers on the Grove's Creek Site, a Native American Village dating to the Mississippian period (AD 1000-1580). The Grove's Creek Site is on Skidaway Island, near Savannah, Georgia. There are two objectives to this project. The first is to combine geophysical data with a geographic information system (GIS) and create a subsurface map of the site. The second is to determine whether the inhabitants of the Grove's Creek Site lived there year round or seasonally. Current archaeological methods are inherently destructive; therefore, any information that is lost can never be recovered. The refinement of a mapping procedure using a limited amount of excavation will result in greater preservation of archaeological sites. The first step of this mapping procedure is to collect shallow geophysical data. During the Grove's Creek project both the conductivity and magnetism of the soil were measured. Archaeologically significant remains such as cooking hearths and burned clay will cause the conductivity and magnetism of the surrounding soil to be higher. When all of the data are plotted, contour maps are created in which these higher readings are visible. The size and shape of the contours give clues as to what subsurface features created them. We use this information to predict the types of archaeological remains and will then excavate to test several of these predictions. Ultimately, this process can be used to map an archaeological site with very little digging.Although there are many important Mississippian sites along the Georgia coast, they are still not fully understood. There is currently considerable disagreement about whether Mississippian peoples were true agriculturists and could live in their village year round or still had to do some hunting and gathering and so traveled for part of the year. Three methods shall be employed to determine whether the inhabitants of Grove's Creek lived there year round or seasonally. The first is to look at the plant and animal remains at the site. Different animals and plants are available at different times of the year. For example, certain fruits are available only in the fall and certain fish migrate nearby in particular months. By identifying the animals and plants at the site and the times that they were available for consumption, we can determine when the site was occupied. The second is to study site architecture. In many Mississippian communities, there is evidence for both summer and winter houses. Two winter houses have already been found at the site, and if a summer house is found, that would show that the site was occupied year round. The last way to determine occupation is by isotopic analysis of oyster shells. By measuring the oxygen isotopes in the growth layers of the shell, it is possible to determine water temperature and therefore the time of year when the animal was killed. Analysis of multiple shells will determine what seasons the site was occupied.This project will not only develop a mapping procedure that will protect archaeological sites; it will also address questions, which are important to the understanding of coastal subsistence and settlement patterns of Native American cultures.