NSF Award
9552084
This project funds the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment for archaeological field surveying. The equipment is the type referred to as a total station, which enhances considerably the rate at which field data can be generated and recorded. A visual orientation replaces a plumb-bob, and an infrared beam measures distance, features that both speed information retrieval and improve accuracy. Auxiliary equipment includes prisms for the proper control of the infrared beam, a data collector for temporary storage of information, and sundry poles and tripods for field use of the major equipment. The immediate need for such equipment stems from field research in Chile, in which a large data base is generated rapidly in surveying a dispersed and segmented irrigation system. Undergraduate students participating in a field school in Chile are well served by the new equipment since they can train on up-to-date technology and can accomplish the task without data saturation. In an undergraduate science/social science environment, the equipment can continue in use for future editions of the same or other field schools in archaeology and can also be used by faculty and students of the Geology Department.
