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GPR Analysis of the Mortuary Features at Pillar Sites in the Turkana Lake Area, Kenya
Four sites with standing pillars, often in clusters or circles, which are estimated to be 8,000 years old, were constructed on the margin of a large freshwater lake in northern Kenya in the early Pliocene. Limited excavations of one of them showed abundant human remains associated with these monuments. GPR surveys were carried out within and around the pillars to map possible subsurface features. It was found that skeletal remains, associated pottery and many other artifacts are found within well-defined excavated areas that are about 1 meter or more in depth. The GPR analysis was used to calculate the area…
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Ground-penetrating Radar Analysis, Jicaro Beach, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
The ephemeral remains of buildings in a Late Period Costa Rican village proved challenging for GPR mapping because little remained but foundation stones and compacted earth floors. Those features had been disturpted over the last 800-900 years by erosion, flood deposits, root action and slumping of the ground. Standard amplitude mapping proved to be beneficial in showing patterns of stones that were consistent with what is known about the shape of these ancient dwellings. Those patterns were confirmed in three locations by the identification of high amplitude planar reflections generated from compacted floor surfaces. Only with the integration of those…
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Phase I Study: Geophysical Investigation Survey Report – Las Animas Geophysical Study, Hollister to Gilroy 4 Lanes, California.
This survey was designed to employ geophysical techniques that included three technical approaches: grorn1d penetrating radar (GPR), total field magnetometry (MAG), and electromagnetic induction (EM). Only two of the geophysical tools were used, EM and GPR.Upon inspecting these locations, it was decided that MAG would not be effective because of thehigh metal content of the proposed survey area, and therefore it was not used. Geophysical mapping in the Las Animas study area has located possible historic features buried by as much as a meter of sediment and soil. GPR reflection profiles and timeslice maps showed the location of four possible…
