Prospecting for Prehistoric Gardens: Results of a Pilot Study

• Published in: Archaeological prospection Vol. 21; no. 2; pp. 147 - 154
• Main Author: Nolan, Kevin C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bognor Regis Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.04.2014; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: eastern North America; gardens; magnetic susceptibility; Phosphate; prehistory; swidden
• ISSN: 1075-2196; 1099-0763
• DOI: 10.1002/arp.1465

ABSTRACTNon‐intensive agricultural systems leave little physical trace on the surface of the landscape. Geochemical analyses are useful in analysing known fields, but often cost‐prohibitive for prospection. A method of soil phosphate and magnetic susceptibility survey is proposed as a solution. Either or both soil characteristics should be altered by most agricultural systems. Anomalies in these two soil properties combined with archaeological data indicate at least one possible garden detected in the initial pilot study plot in central Indiana. The detected potential gardens match, in size and distribution, ethnographic accounts of non‐intensive agricultural fields. The promise of the proposed method of prospecting for gardens for the study of prehistoric impacts on our inherited landscapes is enormous. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.