Historical tracks and trail resources as delineated by near-field ground-penetrating radar: Two case studies

摘要

The information content of the near-field coupling-wave zone of ground-penetrating radar is explored in the context of cultural resource investigations at two archaeological sites in Washington State and New Mexico. While the coupling-wave zone is frequently assumed to be information-poor in the context of very shallow resources, and routinely filtered out for the benefit of accentuating deeper resources, this study advocates careful inspection of this data zone. In both case studies, cultural resources most likely related to animal/human/vehicular trails or trackways were detected in unprocessed (raw) horizontal amplitude slices. The ability of radar to 'see' these resources is conjectured to be related to soil or sediment compaction.