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Post by Mike Powell on Jul 13, 2016 10:52:18 GMT -6
I may not be placing this question in the right subject area, but here goes, two parts:
What is the process by which objects sink below the surface of the ground? Are they drawn down if their mass is greater than the underlying soil; that is, do they subside? Which I suppose would be eventuated principally by rainfall liquefying the soil immediately below them.
Or, does the surface level gradually build up over them? In this case by fresh soil blown or washed in. Or by soil created from decaying plant matter.
Or is it some combination of these two processes? Or some other process entirely or in part?
I realize the answer to this question is greatly dependent on location, but I mean it particularly for an area such as Calhoun's site.
Secondly, what is the rate at which objects are subsiding, by whatever process, at say the Calhoun site?
Finally, part three of two I guess, is what I'm calling the subsiding rate consistent enough, again at Calhoun, that a cartridge deposited in 1876 could be easily distinguished from one in the same immediate area deposited say in 1940, based on the depth below surface?
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Post by Mike Powell on Jul 13, 2016 18:01:58 GMT -6
Well, please hurry. At this age I could start subsiding myself any minute now.
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Post by jodak on Jul 13, 2016 19:04:42 GMT -6
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Post by dave on Jul 13, 2016 20:47:13 GMT -6
The Daily Mail article stated that: "An estimated 300 million of the billion projectiles the British and the Germans hurled at each other in the immortal salient - still the biggest graveyard of the British Army - were duds, and most of them have not been recovered." That is an incredible rate of duds almost 30%! Regards Dave
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Post by dave on Jul 13, 2016 20:56:45 GMT -6
Mike Perhaps this will provide some assistance with your questions?
Why do archaeologists have to dig to find sites and artifacts? (How do sites get buried in the first place?)
Most people are very surprised at the amount of dirt that can build up at an abandoned site. Once a structure has been exposed to the elements, even just through a broken window or a hole in a roof, the weather, animals, and humans all do their best to help the building crumble and fill up with dirt. The artifacts and structures that archaeologists study have often been abandoned for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. During this time they decay and are covered over. Wind brings more dust to cover the remains. Sometimes floods will bring with them silt and soil. Downtown Rome today is many meters higher than the Rome of the Caesars, partly because when the Tiber River flooded, silt built up even as people inhabited the city. In addition, the area was abandoned several times in its history -- and last but not least, there was no consistent daily or weekly effort to clean up the streets, no city-wide, consistent equivalent of our trash collection today. And so a city can slowly be partly buried even while people are living there. In more dramatic cases, sites may be buried relatively quickly during catastrophic events, the way Pompeii and Herculaneum were covered over by ash and volcanic mud during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. One way or another, by the time archaeologists arrive on the scene, the remains of a site may be covered by anywhere from one to forty feet of earth and debris. www.archaeological.org/education/askexpertsfaq#faq8
HOW ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES ARE FORMED
Sample soil stratigraphy, with layer C being the oldest One of the questions most frequently asked of archaeologists is "how do artifacts (or foundations, walkways, etc.) become buried so far underground?" The answer is not that the artifacts sink, but that the ground builds up in layers, or strata, over time. In cross section, the soil resembles a layer cake, with the oldest layers on the bottom and more recent deposits on top. The accumulated layers of soil are the site's stratigraphy.
The accumulation of soil is a natural process that results from the disintegration of organic material such as grass and leaves, and the deposit of blowing dust. Cultural activities also play a role in creating soil layers. Household waste such as ashes from kitchen fires, food remains, and broken glass and ceramics contribute to the accumulation of stratigraphic layers. Activities that move earth around, such as the construction of a cellar hole, have a significant effect on a property's stratification, quickly adding many feet of fill dirt. The more activity that has occurred on a property, the greater the soil accumulation is likely to be.
Why is stratigraphy important? Soil layers are the most basic tools available for measuring the passing of time because the deepest layers of soil are older than the layers on top. For this reason, archaeologists excavate stratigraphically, or one layer at a time, removing all soil from one time period before excavating the layers that preceded it. www.history.org/history/teaching/enewsletter/may03/archintro.cfm
Regards Dave
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Post by Mike Powell on Jul 14, 2016 8:33:52 GMT -6
Thanks Dave. That's pretty clear on the causes of depositation over artifacts. I would think, absent long-term change in local weather, the rate of growth in ground level at Calhoun would be rather constant.
I'd suppose the arising of artillery duds in Europe, and other similar events, is simply the result of natural erosion and on-going agricultural work reducing the ground level.
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Post by dave on Jul 14, 2016 13:46:35 GMT -6
Mike The Shiloh National Military Park is a little over 4,000 acres with little homesteads surrounding it on 3 sides. These folks over the last 154 years have farmed, planted gardens and tended their yards finding various artifacts. Many looters have started on private property and leaked over to government land prospecting and digging. I suspect the park is poorly staffed and vulnerable at night because of funding issues. I detest these thieves since they are stealing not only artifacts but the history lost when these thugs prowl and poke. I wished they'd catch a couple and have a public flogging of the culprits. Now that would be a deterrent!
A case in point being there were at one time 12 known Confederate burial trenches but over the years only five are known and marked. It has long been rumored the park staff know of 4 more located in private property but have not been disclosed due to concerns of looters. Think of the history learned if a burial trench were located and properly studied by professionals. Maybe in my grand children's time. Regards Dave
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Post by tubman13 on Jul 15, 2016 5:42:10 GMT -6
Dave,
Off topic to some degree how much damage has been done, over the years, to the mounds in New Albany, MS. Thank you MS, Guru.
Regards, Tom
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Post by dave on Jul 15, 2016 10:12:30 GMT -6
Tom Unfortunately Indian mounds throughout the South have been looted, destroyed and plowed over by indifferent landowners for years who cared as much about Indian mounds as they did for nuisance animals. The specific Indian Mounds you mentioned are the Ingomar Indian Mounds. I have listed a web site below that will provide details. As during the dinosaur wars of the 1890's, museums across the nation sent teams to dig and recover as many artifacts as possible with little concern for science or proper excavations. The destruction ceased with the advent of Archaeology and Anthropology programs at universities and government, state and federal, intercession. About 1961 or 1962, my father took an archaeology course that did a summer dig at a small Indian mound about 30 miles away in Coffeevile, MS and I tagged along for several days. Dad drove the school bus carrying the class to the did and he would let me drive it around the cow pasture!!! Turned out this mound was a burial mound and provided details about the Indians who lived around 800 BC. I remember how he brought home Indian arrow heads and had photos of the excavation, wished I had paid more attention but driving the bus at 13 or 14 years old was too great a draw! Due to the enactment of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act in 1990 these artifacts were turned over to the Choctaw Nation. There is still a brisk business done on the QT trading and acquiring Indian artifacts, especially arrow heads. I detest these looters as much as I do the thieves who illegally dig in National Military Parks. Shiloh National Military Park has 8 Indian mounds which have been protected by federal statues as it is part of the park. Scientific studies have been conducted on these mounds since the 1930's when as part of the New Deal, new agencies were created that gave needy people public jobs. Shiloh benefited greatly during the 1930's as much of the park's infrastructure was created and improved. Regards Dave www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC2ECX9_ingomar-mounds?guid=ad9bb690-69a2-4637-b7c2-0961a19221b8
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Post by tubman13 on Jul 15, 2016 14:10:08 GMT -6
Dave , Thanks for the insights.
regards, Tom
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Post by jodak on Jul 21, 2016 19:01:23 GMT -6
As far as the discovery of artifacts, I have a question that I have wondered about for years. I previously mentioned that I grew up in the middle of the territory once occupied by the Cherokee. A number of people there practice the hobby of searching for Indian arrow heads, which it seems are mostly found after farmers plow their fields and churn them up. Apparently those that are serious about the hobby and know how to look are quite successful in finding large numbers of arrow heads, and it is common to see collections of them in people's homes or for sale in flea markets and the like. The large number that are apparently just lying around has always befuddled me, as it seems to me that, if I had been an Indian that had spent a considerable amount of time producing an arrow that I then shot at game and missed, I would go pick it up and use it again and not just leave it there. The only thing that I can figure is that they maybe felt that an arrow that missed was no good or had bad medicine and wasn't worth reusing, but that is just a thought. Does anyone have any thoughts or insight into this?
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Post by dave on Jul 22, 2016 8:38:23 GMT -6
jodak I agree with your point about the arrowhead's being so valuable they would not be left behind if possible. I suspicion that the majority of the points have been removed from ceremonial and burial mounds illegally. There are hundreds of mounds and most are located in remote areas on private lands and susceptible to looters.
It has only been in the last 20 to 30 years that much public awareness has been brought to the sacredness of Indian artifacts and bones. Museums and many private collectors have returned artifacts to the tribes that are related to the ancient ones. Many artifacts in Mississippi have been returned to the Choctaws and some to the Chickasaws. Regards Dave
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Post by montrose on Jul 22, 2016 8:48:31 GMT -6
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let us be careful here.
We have seen dozens of examples where a fanatic claims that collectors have added or deleted evidence that supports that specific fanatics theory.
I can point you at a single poster with over 500 of these false claims. 500 is a lowball, really around 3000.
I support reasonable discussion. I do not support lies and fabrication. You are opening a dangerous door.
Truther
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