Caddoan archaeology in eastern Oklahoma
Survey and excavation of sites with a primary focus in east central and northeastern Oklahoma (along the Arkansas and Illinois Rivers). Current projects focus on analysis of WPA and other museum collections from the Reed site in Delaware County, the Norman site in Wagoner County, the Harlan site in Cherokee County, and the Spiro site in Le Flore County. I recently co-authored a book on this topic.
A current major field project involves remote sensing and excavations at the Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center. Project photos can be found here.
Archaeological geophysics
Lead researcher for the Archeological Survey’s remote sensing program. Assets include:
- Bartington Grad 601 gradiometer
- Geoscan Research FM-256 gradiometer
- Geoscan Research RM-15 electrical resistance meter
- GSSI SIR-3000 ground-penetrating radar with 200 and 400 MHz antennae
- GSSI UtilityScan ground-penetrating radar with 350 MHz antenna
- Bartington MS-2 hand-held magnetic susceptibility meter with MS2-K and MS2-H sensors and MS2-D field loop
- GeoPlot, Surfer, TerraSurveyor, and Radan processing software
Projects to date include Caddo, Wichita, and historic sites in eastern and north-central Oklahoma, PaleoIndian sites in western Oklahoma, and the Monte Albán Geophysical Archaeology Project (geophysical survey of the plaza at Monte Albán, Oaxaca, Mexico).
A major remote sensing project (in collaboration with researchers from OU and the Arkansas Archeological Survey) focuses on the Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center in Le Flore County. More information can be found here.
Experimental use of stone tools
Using groundstone and chipped stone tools to excavate trenches and construct log walls to test the effectiveness of these tools and provide quantitative measurements of labor investments.
Other projects involve the use of Mill Creek chert hoes in prairie soils to verify their potential as sod-busters (in collaboration with Erin R. Hughes). This was recently published in Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology.
