Article Title：Geomorphic mapping enhances cultural resource management at the US Army Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, USA
Abstract：
Provisions of the National Historical Preservation Act of 1966, particularly Section 106 of that Act, require the Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) to conduct archaeological surveys and assess cultural resources to evaluate potential effects of planned military testing activities oil those cultural resources considered eligible or potentially eligible,for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. Landscape reconstruction was performed using aerial photography and satellite image interpretations, ground verification including detailed soils geomorphology descriptions, and archaeological surveys. Geographic Information System overlay analyses were used to determine the preferential distribution of cultural resources in tire study area. A last majority of the 40 mapped cultural sites are located on Pleistocene age geomorphic surfaces. Few sites occurred on Holocene age surfaces. Spatial relationships between geomorphology and archaeology were supported by chi-square statistical tests, rejecting tire hypothesis that culture is evenly distributed across the landscape as a function of the size of geomorphic surfaces comprising it. Nintey-two percent of cultural resources designated eligible the National Register of Historic Places occur on Pleistocene age geomorphic surfaces. Results of this interdisciplinary study suggest that both differential preservation of geomorphic surfaces and human behavior act together to explain the spatial distribution of cultural resources at YPG.
Keywords: archaeology; geographic information systems; GIS; geomorphic surfaces; remote sensing; soils geomorphology
DOI: 10.1080/153249802760284775
Source：ARID LAND RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT
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