Abstract
Fort Stanwix National Monument, located in Rome, NY, is a historic park with a complex use history dating back to the early Colonial period and through the urban expansion and recent economic revitalization of the City of Rome. The goal of this study was to conduct a GPR investigation over an area approximately 1 acre in size to identify buried historic features (particularly buildings) so park management can preserve these resources and develop appropriate educational programming and management plans. The GPR recorded reflection events consistent with our expectations of historic structures. Differences in size, shape, orientation, and depth suggest that these responses likely date to different time periods in the site’s history. The GPR recorded other reflection anomalies that are difficult to interpret without any additional information, which suggests that pairing high-density geophysical data with limited excavations is critical to elaborate a complex site’s intricate history.
Highlights
Remote sensing and near-surface geophysics are often used in archaeology to assist in selecting locations for excavation or to create maps of the locations of historical artifacts and architecture from the past
While early applications of ground penetrating radar (GPR) to historic archaeology were experimental, more recent studies have been successful in inspecting the structural integrity of historic buildings, identifying specific features of interest, mapping historic landscape use, locating graves and delineating cemeteries, and evaluating urban expansion [3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14]
As seen in the analyses presented above, GPR can be used as a guiding source of data for site interpretations not previously available for consideration
Summary
Remote sensing and near-surface geophysics are often used in archaeology to assist in selecting locations for excavation or to create maps of the locations of historical artifacts and architecture from the past. These maps are generally used to infer spatial relationships between these features and derive meaning of social significance or of the human experience for those that created and used the built environment. The benefits of GPR for mapping historic sites compared with traditional excavation include the volume of data that can be collected, the preservation of the site (since the methods are generally non-destructive), and the shareability of digital data between stakeholders. While early applications of GPR to historic archaeology were experimental, more recent studies have been successful in inspecting the structural integrity of historic buildings, identifying specific features of interest, mapping historic landscape use, locating graves and delineating cemeteries, and evaluating urban expansion [3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14]
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