Surface
Work
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A pedestrian
surface survey was conducted over
the 48.25 acre area, covering the entire geophysical
grid as well as areas to the north, east,
and west. The survey was conducted by 2-4
crew members, 1-2 of these being Fort Union
NHS staff detailed to assist the survey portion
of the project. Survey transects were spaced
at 5 meter intervals and were oriented north/south
with the geophysical grid. Fiberglass measuring
tapes (100 m) were used as reference points
along the east/west axis while surveying areas
both within and surrounding the geophysical
grid. |
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Overview of Garden Couolee site facing NE
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A total of 648 surface artifacts were identified
and recorded during the survey. Major artifact
categories included historic ceramics, glass,
metal items, historic miscellaneous materials,
and lithics. Two mid to late 19th century
military buttons were collected during the
survey (see below). One of these was an
infantry coat button with an “I”
crested eagle. The second button, found
south of the well on the dirt road, was
a smaller military uniform cuff button depicting
an eagle without a crest. |
Click here to see more artifacts from
previous archeological investigations
at the Garden Coulee site.
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Significant
artifact concentrations were identified
in two areas during the pedestrian survey.
The largest concentration covered an
area 95 meters in length (north/south)
and 76 meters in width (east/west).
The majority of Concentration #1 was
made up of historic glass, metal, and
ceramics. However, the affiliation of
this Concentration #1 with the Crow-Flies-High
occupation has yet to be determined
and should be avoided until the geophysical
survey has been completed. Once the
geophysical data has been analyzed,
it may provide more detailed information
on subsurface features in the area which
might be similar to those identified
previously. |
Concentration
#2 was smaller and less dense,
measuring 16 meters in length
(north/south) and 15 meters in
width (east/west). The smaller
concentration was made up of historic
glass, ceramics, and miscellaneous
materials such as coal fragments.
Concentration #2 is located closer
to the area where archeological
features were recorded in 1977.
The north and east areas outside
of the geophysical grid contained
moderate to low density scatters
of artifacts and did not demonstrate
concentrations significant enough
to warrant further investigations. |
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Distributions and locations
of surface artifacts recorded
during pedestrian inventory.
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Conclusions
Based on the data gathered during the
pedestrian survey, the majority of the artifacts
seem to be concentrated in two separate
areas south of grid line N1160 and just
west of E1000 and west of the E1200 line.
Matching concentrations of both surface
artifacts and geophysical anomalies should
inform on the size and relative density
of the site’s archeological deposits.
If the large artifact concentration found
at the western edge of the site does not
correlate with any concentration of subsurface
geophysical anomalies, then more data should
be collected in order to precisely determine
the association of the artifact scatter.
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