Geoarchaeology

Keith C. Seramur, P.G., PC

Welcome to geoarchaeology.com.

Providing Geomorphology and Geoarchaeology Services for CRM and Research Projects

Deep Testing levee/T₁ terrace landform at Kings Creek, Cherokee County, South Carolina.

Keith C. Seramur P.G.
Consultant and Research Associate, Dept. of Geology, Appalachian State University.

When working on an archaeological site, my goal is to assist the archaeologist in placing archaeological data into an environmental setting.

A geoarchaeology investigation prior to the archaeological survey provides the archaeologist with information on buried soils, landforms favorable for occupation and a predictive model for the location of archaeological sites. An investigation at known archaeological sites can assist in evaluating the potential for preservation of cultural context and archaeological stratigraphy within the different deposits.

Aspects of geoarchaeology investigations

Predictive Modeling to locate archaeological sites - includes evaluating geologic controls on resource distribution and identifying landforms favorable for occupation.

Preservation of cultural context and archaeological stratigraphy - sedimentological analyses can provide data to evaluate the potential for preservation of archaeological sites. Low energy and high energy depositional environments are identified based on sedimentology of the deposits. These environments influence the preservation of stratified deposits and can provide an indication of the potential for preservation of cultural context.

Grain-size statistical analysis of archaeological deposits - is used to determine site formation processes and sedimentary processes that burial cultural horizons in different depositional environments. This allows interpretation of the environmental setting of archaeological sites and can define vertical site boundaries.

Stratigraphic interpretations reconstruct the depositional history and assist in interpreting the environmental setting throughout the Holocene. Interpretation of the prehistoric environmental settings assists in assessing Native American land use changes resulting from Holocene climatic fluctuations.

Removing historic sediment to test the underlying prehistoric deposits on a Piedmont floodplain

Deep Testing Surveys

Backhoe Testing

Coring Stratified Sites

A geological assessment of an archaeological site can assist in interpretation of site formation processes and burial, provide an understanding of the depositional setting and post-depositional geological effects since site burial. I use sedimentology, geomorphology, and Quaternary stratigraphy to develop a geologic model for each archaeological site.

keith "at" geoarchaeology "dot" com