Article about Kate’s work

Kate Johnson (who got her MA in historical Archaeology from UMass Boston)  recently published paper in the Journal of Archaeological Science called  Rediscovering the lost archaeological landscape of southern New England using airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR).  This paper was picked up first by National Geographic, then by Science, then by the Huffington Post, and then most recently by CT NPR.  Kate gave us a preview of this paper a few months ago.

Last week the Fiske Center did a short project, directed by David Landon, at the Westport Town Farm, a property managed by the Trustees of Reservations.  Here’s a link to a local news story about the work, including a YouTube video and a number of great photos.

http://aldenhill.com/Community_Event_Text/2012_Events/Westport_in_brief_April_15_2012.htm#dirtdetectiveslookforclues

We had a chance to do some very preliminary archaeogeophysical survey at the Westport Town Farm with the EM-38.  To me, it looks like the most interesting structured readings are well outside the impacted area (near the picnic benches by the fence).

Smoothed results from the In Phase (IP) component of the EM-38

In the IP, the blue (high) should indicate rocks close to the surface

Smoothed results from the Quadrature (Q) component of the EM-38

In the Q, the Red (low) suggests rocks.  The blue suggests more conductive soil.