Searching for greasewood on sand dunes: A remote sensing spectral data model to predict intact pre-middle Holocene archaeological deposits in southwest Wyoming

Archaeological research in the central Green River Basin and especially the Moxa Arch area of southwest Wyoming has been an on-going effort for many years. Early research efforts focused on establishing culture histories and overall cultural chronologies of the area, as well as learning about the paleoecology and surface geology of the area. However, by the mid to late 1990's large gaps in what was known of the archaeological record in the Green River Basin were becoming apparent. One of the gaps identified was the lack of excavated intact pre-Middle Holocene cultural deposits. Additional information regarding Early Archaic and Paleoindian lifeways, subsistence patterns, and overall landscape use is required in order to further archaeological research in the Green River Basin. Unfortunately, these data cannot be obtained without locating the proper aged intact stratigraphic deposits. As such, my research goal is to locate pre-Middle Holocene intact deposits with the hope of furthering archaeological knowledge of Paleoindian and Early Archaic lifeways in the Green River Basin of southwest Wyoming. Research demonstrates that greasewood on the surface may indicate the locations of buried pre-Middle Holocene deposits. Sand dune complexes and especially sand shadows seem to display the most promising locations for intact buried cultural deposits. Finding where these two variables intersect is the purpose of my research. A remote sensing spectral data model using ArcMap 9.3 and extension software Feature Analyst are used to predict greasewood locations within sand dune complexes. One meter ground resolution color infrared imagery was used as the base GIS layer. My study analyzed these variables for the Granger, Church Butte, and Verne quadrangles in southwest Wyoming. The results of this analysis were then overlaid with previously recorded archaeological site locations to predict which archaeological sites are located in sand deposits/complexes that also have greasewood present on the surface. In theory, the final results are the most likely locations to encounter an archaeological site with intact buried pre-Middle Holocene deposits within the three quadrangles selected for my study in the Moxa Arch area of southwest Wyoming.