A Statewide Geographic Information System (GIS) as a Predictive Tool for Locating Deeply Buried Archeological Deposits in Nebraska: (PHASE III-The Sandhills Region)

During 2016-2021, History Nebraska (HN) and the Kansas Geological Survey (KGS) collaborated on two research projects funded through the NDOT Research Program. The effort created a GIS-based prediction tool to better estimate where deeply buried, and difficult to identify, archeological sites are likely to occur—particularly along stream and river floodplains, terraces, and alluvial fans. The final phase of the project which would focus on the Nebraska Sandhills, a region that encompasses much of central and western Nebraska. The overarching goal of the statewide project is to assist cultural resource specialists involved in the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) project planning and development. The first two phases involved development of data layers that spatially delineate different landform-sediment assemblages (LSAs) and depict the associated geologic potential for buried cultural deposits primarily in river valleys (Figure 2). The Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO) was used to map soil series, and that information was used to determine the spatial pattern of late-Quaternary landforms, such as floodplains, terraces, alluvial fans, and loess-mantled uplands. Also, the ages of sedimentary deposits were inferred from the soils. The Sandhills cover a vast portion of central and western Nebraska and are drained by the Cedar, Calamus, North Loup, Middle Loup, Dismal, Snake, and Niobrara rivers and their tributaries. The proposed project will examine multiple localities along some of these streams to fill in the major data gap in our existing Phase I and Phase II buried sites prediction tool. While new data will always be added and the model improved, the current proposal seeks to complete acquisition of baseline data for all drainages in the entire state.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $120,130.00
• Sponsor Organizations:

  Nebraska Department of Transportation

  1500 Nebraska 2
  Lincoln, NE  United States  68502
• Project Managers:

  Halsey, Lieska

• Principal Investigators:

  Ziska, Courtney

  Williams, David

  Mandel, Rolfe

  Layzell, Anthony

• Start Date: 20220701
• Expected Completion Date: 20241231
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Environment; Geographic information systems; Maps; Sediments
• Identifier Terms: Nebraska Department of Transportation
• Subject Areas: Environment; Research; R09: MATERIALS SCIENCE;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01849007
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Nebraska Department of Transportation
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jun 21 2022 2:23PM