Building
on History
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What and how we can learn from Battlefield
Archeology
Archeologists are very interested in finding
artifacts, but really as a means to something
greater. The meaning of individual artifacts
is increased when we combine methods to
answer larger questions than “what
is it?” or “how old is it?”
Answers to these questions are vital, but
they represent building blocks to larger
research goals. Multiple methods allow archeologists
to look at the set of artifacts and their
setting in different ways and at different
scales to better examine questions of how
battles took place, and perhaps why they
were lost or won.
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Discovering an artifact is one thing, finding
its meaning is another.
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One set of tools very useful for research
at Wilson’s Creek and Pea Ridge Battlefields
is Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
GIS allows archeologists to map the position
of individual artifact finds in relation
to physical features and historical accounts
to test ideas about how battles played out.Global
Positioning Systems (GPS), satellite-based
mapping tools that facilitate the precise
and accurate mapping of individual artifacts
on the landscape provide the spatial data
for GIS |
GIS studies can test historical accounts
of the battles. MWAC Archeological Technician
Carl Drexler applied linear regression analysis
to groups of canister ball locations to
help identify the approximate location of
the cannons that fired them. Drexler’s
results
can be compared to what is traditionally
understood about cannon locations during
the battles.
Archeologists also use GIS to analyze three-dimensional
data; point elevation information from the
landscape under analysis is included to
reconstruct views available from various
places on the battlefields. Drexler conducted
viewshed
analysis to test conclusions about potential
gun positions.
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Geophysical remote sensing studies
help locate Civil War features now
lost to time, like the site of Leetown.
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Remote
Sensing – Seeing Beyond the Artifacts
Investigating Civil War battlefields
generally involves systematic surface
location and mapping of artifacts on
or very near the ground surface. Near-surface
remote sensing technology greatly increases
the information available from artifact
maps. The metal detectors widely used
in battlefield projects to locate Civil
War era artifacts are but one example.
Geophysical techniques, such as electrical
resistively sensing, build on these
data by supplying information about
the sediments throughout the area.Geophysical
equipment detects and records the speed
and strength with which signals travel
through the ground in a series of locations
across the area under study. |
Differences across
space in the returning signal –
anomalies -- are apparent in maps
of these readings; anomalies may be
related to past human activity. In
combination, artifact distributions
and geophysical data can tell much
more about what took place at a point
on the landscape than can either source
alone.
Small-Scale Methods
Detailed artifact analysis
aids in telling the story of the battle.
Metallurgical engineering analysis
of cannonball fragments by Archeological
Technician Alicia Coles shows how
these items were made and how they
were designed to break upon explosion,
becoming lethal weapons.
Scanning Electron Microscopic images
and metallurgical photomicrographs
provide information such as material
composition, structure, and failure
modes. Pilot
studies confirm historically-based
conceptions of the artillery and suggest
great potential for future studies
to tell more about the Confederate
and Federal Armies, including their
technological limitations and choices
during the Civil War.
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From Analysis to
Understanding From landscape
to microscopic, ongoing analyses
by archeologists are building
on what is known about the battles
of Wilson’s Creek and
Pea Ridge. Detailed artifact
analyses lead to a greater understanding
of the role that particular
munitions played in battle.
Coupled with precision mapping
and spatial analyses, results
may be used by the park to more
accurately interpret artillery
and fighting positions for the
public, both orally and with
on-site exhibits, increasing
understanding of the complex
series of events that formed
the Civil War.
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Archeology and history combine
for a more complete interpretation
of combatant movements in battles
such as the one in Sharp's cornfield.
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