Mud, Cow Poo and Geophysics
Well, here I am again doing more surveying at Battle Mound for my thesis. This Caddo mound site is enormous and it seems endless but I'm getting good results. This past week has been one of the oddest, in terms of weather. The first day was spent discovering that the cows had completely destroyed the grid that was left from last November. It was expected that some of the PVC corner pipes would be missing, but out of 160 or so, only three remained. The rest were scattered about, often far from where they were placed. With help from Jamie Brandon and Clay Newton, we were able to reorient ourselves and this time we set the datum within the fenced area at the north base of the mound. After taking care of that situation, we were ready to head out the next day and start collecting data.
One problem. An ice storm in Magnolia hit that night and going out to the site was made impossible - not to mention very cold. So, it was a day spent at the Arkansas Archeological Survey working on getting the details worked out with the Trimble GeoXT that I am testing. Did I mention that ice storms in SW Arkansas are rare?
Anyway, the next day we headed out late because it was still wet and cold out. We were concerned about getting to the site with all the wet weather but with a little high school 4x4 knowledge, I drove the big Dodge survey truck out to the site with no problems. The site was very muddy and after slushing around a bit, the first set of grids were set up to start collecting. I collected 19 grids that day - spaced at .5 meter transects - over an area that had previously resulted in high daub concentrations during surface collections.
Today I collected an additional 28 grids (again at .5 meter) and my feet are killing me. It was another day of slushing around in the mud either collecting GPS data or collecting Mag data. Unfortunately, my cheap rubber boots DO have a metal shank in them so I was unable to use them during mag survey - which has led to wet feet and mucho blisters while surveying in my non-waterproof tennis shoes. Oh well. This morning at the site was very nice with a low fog. It was still and quiet. Birds could be heard from far away either chirping or banging their beaks on trees. Cows in both distant and near fields could be heard moo'ing and every now and then duck hunters would release a rapid fire of ammo, echoing the air with noise.
Tomorrow is my last day for this visit and I expect to collect an additional 22 grids in some key areas. This puts me shy of almost 70 grids that I had hoped to do but the weather (and my feet) just didn't hold out.
Oh, one other thing. It's amazing how destructive cows are to the environment. Sure, I realized this from various images but I never saw first hand until walking around the site and seeing the areas where the cows have turned areas into a muddy mess, damaged trees with their scratching and rubbing and created deep grass-less trails throughout the site. This doesn't even take into consideration the smell of cow feces that permeates the entire site and is deposited in every imaginable spot. It's too bad. This is an important Caddo site that should be preserved better.
One problem. An ice storm in Magnolia hit that night and going out to the site was made impossible - not to mention very cold. So, it was a day spent at the Arkansas Archeological Survey working on getting the details worked out with the Trimble GeoXT that I am testing. Did I mention that ice storms in SW Arkansas are rare?
Anyway, the next day we headed out late because it was still wet and cold out. We were concerned about getting to the site with all the wet weather but with a little high school 4x4 knowledge, I drove the big Dodge survey truck out to the site with no problems. The site was very muddy and after slushing around a bit, the first set of grids were set up to start collecting. I collected 19 grids that day - spaced at .5 meter transects - over an area that had previously resulted in high daub concentrations during surface collections.
Today I collected an additional 28 grids (again at .5 meter) and my feet are killing me. It was another day of slushing around in the mud either collecting GPS data or collecting Mag data. Unfortunately, my cheap rubber boots DO have a metal shank in them so I was unable to use them during mag survey - which has led to wet feet and mucho blisters while surveying in my non-waterproof tennis shoes. Oh well. This morning at the site was very nice with a low fog. It was still and quiet. Birds could be heard from far away either chirping or banging their beaks on trees. Cows in both distant and near fields could be heard moo'ing and every now and then duck hunters would release a rapid fire of ammo, echoing the air with noise.
Tomorrow is my last day for this visit and I expect to collect an additional 22 grids in some key areas. This puts me shy of almost 70 grids that I had hoped to do but the weather (and my feet) just didn't hold out.
Oh, one other thing. It's amazing how destructive cows are to the environment. Sure, I realized this from various images but I never saw first hand until walking around the site and seeing the areas where the cows have turned areas into a muddy mess, damaged trees with their scratching and rubbing and created deep grass-less trails throughout the site. This doesn't even take into consideration the smell of cow feces that permeates the entire site and is deposited in every imaginable spot. It's too bad. This is an important Caddo site that should be preserved better.
Labels: archaeology, battle mound, Caddo, geophysics, GPS, surveying
posted by Duncan McKinnon at
7:38 PM
2 Comments:
Whew! Shoulda had some Muck Boots!
Well, I'd still be lying if I said I wasn't a little jealous.
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