LANDSCAPE EVOLUTION AT THE MSUM REGIONAL SCIENCE CENTER: AN XRF ANALYSIS OF THE SOILS AND SEDIMENTS TO SUPPLEMENT PREVIOUS SEDIMENTOLOGICAL AND STRATIGRAPHIC STUDIES

This is part of a long-term investigation examining how landscape evolution has influenced the occupation and activities of indigenous people at the MSUM Regional Science Center (RSC). The site consists of over 400 acres of varied habitats and has been the focus archeological investigations for over 40 years. Through the analysis of core samples, excavated profiles, and optically stimulated luminescent (OSL), sites in the study area were found to be as old as 8,400 years B.P. Previously, additional archaeological sites have been excavated which also included a buried soil horizon. The current study focuses on a site along a river cut on the bank of the Buffalo River and 6 core samples that have been analyzed to correlate the study horizon with earlier findings. Results suggest that the preservation of remnant topography appears to significantly impact the distribution and characteristics of the study horizon. X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) is being used to analyze the geochemistry of the soil horizons. These new methods may provide further insights into the landscape evolution and indigenous activity at the RSC.