Deep Testing with Back Hoe Trenches
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Backhoe trenches are the most comprehensive method of deep testing landforms for stratified archaeological sites.
•The trench walls provide a three dimensional perspective of land form stratigraphy.
•Cultural materials within the stratigraphic units are apparent when cleaning logging the trench walls.
•Backhoe trenches can be more economical than coring stratified sites because of the time and labor involved in collecting and logging the cores.
•A Health and Safety plan is required for all deep testing projects that involve trenching. An OSHA compentent person is to be present during all trenching operations.
In only a few minutes, the backhoe operator can provide access to the entire Holocene stratigraphic record. The geolomorphgist and archaeologist can work together to determine whether a particular land form has the potential to contain buried archaeological sites in cultural context.
