NAME: R. Carl DeMuth
 

PROJECT TITLE: The efficacy of controlled surface collection in archaeological research

In archaeology, controlled surface collection has been used as a means to determine the presence of buried features at some archaeological sites.  However, there is great debate as to whether  this is a viable means of determining the location of these features, especially in plowed areas.  This project seeks to determine if controlled surface collection is a viable means of locating sub-surface features in Green Bottom, West Virginia, which is located within the Mid-Ohio River Valley.  This will be done in collaboration with the Marshall University Archaeological Field School, directed by Anthropology professor Dr. Nicholas Freidin.

Controlled surface collection represents a non-intrusive method of archaeological surveying.  Non-intrusive surveying methods are important in archaeology because they pose no risk to sub-surface archaeological features - buried cultural remains of past cultures - such as a hearth remains, fire pits, or post-hole markings.  However, most of these non-intrusive methods are very expensive, but controlled surface collection is not.  If this experiment can verify the efficacy of controlled surface collection in plowed areas, then it can greatly reduce the costs involved in some archaeological surveys.  This would assist smaller field schools, contract archaeology firms, and university departments that lack funding to conduct expensive forms of non-intrusive archaeological surveys.  This research will by no means be a definitive survey, but it should provide more insight and information to the debate over whether controlled surface collection is a valid method for locating buried features.