COMBINING GEOPHYSICS AND COMPUTER SCIENCE TO VISUALIZE THE SUBSURFACE

A ground penetrating radar (GPR) study of an archeological dig site located at the Pine Lake Hartwick Environmental Campus in Davenport, New York was preformed in the summer of 2008. The archeological site is located on a river floodplain sandwiched between Charlotte Creek and the Pine Lake kame moraine close to Davenport, NY. Prior excavation discovered archeological artifacts that cluster in age at 4000 BP and 1000 BP. The artifacts document intermittent hunter-gatherer activity at the site during the Holocene.

Our project created a computer program (GPRrofile) to visualize the subsurface using parallel GPR transects. GPRrofile displays the data in a 2D map and profile view which allows the user to trace features and place them in the study area. GPRrofile is flexible and allows the user to change the map and GPR profile imagery to any global location. This lite weight data visualization tool provides easy access to subsurface features and facilitates interpretation of subsurface stratigraphy. For instance, gravel bars and buried channels can be readily traced in the subsurface of our study area. When excavated sites from the archeological digs are compared to a map of the buried channels, it is readily apparent that the Native Americans settled on the gravel bars. Thus, GPRrofile will help target future excavations over other buried gravel bars.

This software is available for free, contact GPRofile@stny.rr.com or go to http://employees.oneonta.edu/hasbarle/Pine_Lake_Archaeology_Site.htm.