A Method for Assessing Scour Nuclei in US Inner-to-Mid Continental Shelf

该项目将研究末次冰盛期（LGM）结束后淹没的史前考古遗址。这些地点预计将在大西洋的大陆架格鲁吉亚湾被发现。这些地点很难发现和研究，但对了解美洲人类进入适应性非常重要。这项研究旨在开发一种新的水下调查方法，以克服目前与水下考古勘探有关的许多成本和困难。这项研究将利用沉船或人工鱼礁周围现有的侵蚀特征。这些暴露是考古测试的引人注目的目标，因为挖掘已经通过潮汐流等自然力完成。冲刷核的成功研究为我们提供了能力，以提高我们的理解，现在淹没的古景观的东南沿海平原沿着大西洋。这项研究将设法改进目前调查和恢复水下考古遗址的方法。通过这样做，它将扩大美国东南部大陆架史前遗址的类型学和年代学框架，并将有助于更广泛地研究淹没paleolandscapes国家和全球。这项研究将探讨如何自然海洋力量可能会减少目前与淹没考古遗址的位置和特征相关的努力和成本。这种费用可能很高，所需的技术虽然在商业上可以获得，但在史前遗址方面通常不能提供可接受的成功率。研究人员将领导一个由受过考古学和地质学训练的学生和同事组成的小组。该团队生成的数据集将为这些方法的可行性以及美国近海水下史前史的性质和生存能力提供新的见解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

This project will study submerged prehistoric archaeological sites drowned after the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The sites are expected to be found on the Atlantic Ocean’s Continental Shelf of the Georgia Bight. Such sites are difficult to discover and study but are extremely relevant to understanding human entry adaptations in the Americas. This research seeks to develop a new method of underwater survey designed to overcome many of the costs and difficulties currently associated with underwater archaeological exploration. The study will exploit existing erosional features created around wrecks or artificial reefs. These exposures are compelling targets for archaeological testing because excavation has already been done by natural forces such as tidal currents. A successful study of scour nuclei offers us the ability to advance our understanding of the now drowned paleolandscape of the southeastern coastal plain along the Atlantic. This study will seek to improve current methodologies for survey and recovery of submerged archaeological sites. By so doing, it will broaden the typological and chronological framework for prehistoric sites on the southeastern U.S. continental shelf and it will contribute more broadly to research on drowned paleolandscapes nationally and globally.This research will examine how natural oceanic forces may reduce effort and costs currently associated with the location and characterization of submerged archaeological sites. Such costs can be significant, and the technology required, while commercially available, does not normally provide an acceptable success rate with regard to prehistoric sites. The researcher will lead a small team of archaeologically and geologically trained students and colleagues. The datasets generated by this team will provide new insights into the feasibility of the methods as well as into the larger picture of the nature and survivability of submerged prehistory in the U.S. offshore. The collaborative focus of the team will provide new and exciting educational opportunities for students.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.