Cave Archaeology Investigation & Research Network 501(c)3

This film is sponsored by the Missouri Humanities Council. In June 2011 the C.A.I.R.N. research team visited the Center for Archaeological Research, Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. The research team examined artifacts using the portable x-ray fluorescence spectrometer (pXRF). The film is a recent interview with Neal Lopinot, Research Director, regarding the analysis results.

Field Update: Dr. Chris Begley (Transylvania University), Peter Campbell (CAIRN), Larry Hassebrook (University of Kentucky),  and Eli Crane (University of Kentucky) are currently investigating archaeological sites in Spain using the portable x-ray fluorescence spectrometer (pXRF) that was provided by Olympus Innov-X to test the elemental composition of some material in the large mortuary cave in Menorca, Spain.

This research was made possibly through a grant from The Missouri Humanities Council with support from The National Endowment for the Humanities.  Additional thanks to Olympus for loan of the portable x-ray fluorescence spectrometer (pXRF).

In May 2011, CAIRN was invited by John Kelly to use the pXRF scanner that is under loan from Olympus, to analyze basalt samples from a site near Cahokia Mounds to those from a region near Lake Superior in Canada.  This elemental analysis may tell John if the basalt came from a local source within Mo. or hails from glacial erratics deposited long ago in the region.

This was the first test of the new Olympus Innov-X Delta pXRF by the CAIRN team. Washington University is a well-known research university located in St. Louis, Missouri.

This research was made possible through a grant from The Missouri Humanities Council with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

CAIRN is proud to announce a recent grant through Missouri Humanities Council! This grant will be used to help fund the Portable XRF scanner by Olympus, which CAIRN will use to perform on the spot analysis of parent materials from rock art to artifacts. The pXRF (portable/handheld X-Ray Florescence) was acquired through a grant from Olympus, awarding us temporary 4 month use of the equipment. The pXRF is a valuable tool for many samples of archaeological importance – metallic artifacts like coins, construction materials such as tiles, and mortars; and decorative pigments used on pottery and in rock art. The quick analysis times of this non-destructive, portable instrument make it ideal for archaeology. The number of samples that must be removed for later analysis at a laboratory is minimized because many more analyses can be done in situ. Should be exciting work!
http://www.olympus-ims.com/en/applications/portable-gps-xrf-protocols-field-archaeology/

http://www.mohumanities.org/

CAIRN in the field in August 2010.

Watch the film documenatry ’Footsteps into the World Beneath’ online for free!

Watch CAIRN collaborate with cave specialists, engineers and archaeologists trying to figure out what happened in a Missouri cave 600 years ago.

The cave yielded prehistoric footprints, rock art and more!

The film was directed and Produced by Emmy award winner and St.Louis Public Radio’s Christian Cudnik (www.triptone.com).

See it here on The Archaeology Channel:  http://www.archaeologychannel.org/content/video/footsteps.html

CAIRN would like to thank the Missouri Humanities Council and Phelan Foundation for their support to help make the research for this film possible.

2011/30 minutes

Footsteps into the World Beneath (documentary)

CAIRN welcomes you to attend the documentary premiere of Footsteps into the World Beneath. The film will premiere March 1, 2011 (7pm) at The Missouri History Museum in Forest Park.

The film was produced and directed by NPR’s Emmy award winning Christian Cudnik (triptone.com) and follows CAIRN as we investigate a cave in Missouri that yields footprints, rock art, and more.

Join us for this fascinating journey below Missouri!

CAIRN would like to thank the Missouri Humanities Council and Phelan Foundation for their support to help make the research for this film possible.

This site is dedicated to the investigation and research of caves and archaeological sites located across the United States as well as abroad.  You will find insightful articles, amazing images, startling video, and vetted research from the minds of some of the foremost experts in the field.  We hope that as this site grows, your knowledge and appreciation for the magnificent finds that we bring you will grow as well!

Underwater caves offer breath-taking natural wonders, such as the blue holes of the Caribbean, and incredible archaeological sites, like the art of Cosquer Cave in France (1). Submerged caves include a wide range of geological formations, including springs, siphons, flooded cavers, cave lakes, sumps, sinkholes, and cenotes (2).

Each of these categories was formed through different methods and the archaeology differs in each type. Nevertheless, caves offer some of the best conditions for preservation of archaeological material, such as organics, which do not often survive in dynamic marine environments or terrestrial sites.

Physical evidence of past cultures, in the form of artifacts or modifications of natural formations, is called material culture. Depending on the site conditions, this evidence can degrade naturally at varying rates, with submerged sites degrading far more rapidly than those on land. Over time, the cultural material often reaches equilibrium with its environment, where it stays in a suspended state if factors remain the same. However, on some sites artifacts continue to degrade until they disappear. Disintegration rates differ between each site, even those that appear similar, and depend on a wide range of factors. Some material culture can disappear in weeks, such as organics like soft tissue, or hundreds of years, like some ships’ timbers (3). Even when an artifact is heavily eroded, natural transformations that altered it can be identified.  Through scientific experiments or computer programs, they are recordable and quantifiable, usually allowing for precise reconstructions.

Cultural transformations cannot always be identified. These transformations are those created by later cultures and include ancient salvage, modern salvage, dredging, looting, and archaeological excavations. Since these transformations cannot be measured and documented in the same way as natural phenomena, reconstruction is usually not possible unless the entire process is recorded, as done in archaeological excavations. When these transformations are left undocumented, such as looting or unpublished archaeological work, then there is a large gap in our knowledge of a site’s environment that is difficult to mitigate.

Disturbance of the equilibrium that protects cultural material is usually caused by cultural transformations. These are often accidental and subtle, such as dredging for coastal channels causing sediment several miles away to shift. Unfortunately, in caves it can be something as simple as a site being visited for the first time or untrained divers visiting a site and colliding with walls or stirring up sediment. These types of accidental disturbances to equilibrium do not often destroy a site; rather they reveal cultural material to natural transformations once again, allowing further eroding. There are several simple ways of protecting these sites for future visitors while gathering information about past cultures.

Documentation and stewardship, while providing public information, are the keys to preserving these sites. A thorough archaeological survey will document cultural material without removing anything, leaving artifacts in situ. It is important that artifacts that are disintegrating or are exposed and removed from equilibrium are documented before further erosion occurs. Stewardship allows cave experts, interested parties, or the public to access the cave, depending on the owner’s preference and level of site’s fragility. Preservation begins with cavers and cave divers, who can identify cultural material and notify CAIRN, National Speleological Society (NSS), Cave Research Foundation (CRF), National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI), or other groups. Discoveries are made by local cavers and cave divers, who are the vanguard of research. To protect caver propriety and favorite local caving spots, CAIRN has a policy of not disclosing cave locations, referring to caves by their location (i.e. SW MO #1). Ensuring that individuals who enter caves are knowledgeable about the damage they can cause to cultural material, natural formations, and the community, as well as themselves, is the most important way to prevent damage to site, similar to Carlsbad Caverns Nation Park’s policy on unqualified cavers entering Lechuguilla or Nation Association for Cave Diving (NACD) policy on unqualified divers entering certain submerged caves.

Since the multifaceted subject of archaeology and its subfields can be complex, outreach and education are key missions of CAIRN, who is working towards a collaborative relationship between many related scientific research communities. CAIRN representatives would be happy to spread the word of cave and archaeological stewardship.  If you would like to arrange a guest speaker for a local organization, school, or event, please contact us.

Peter Campbell

Citation(1)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Great_Blue_Hole.jpg

http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/cosquer

Citation(2)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinkhole

http://www.swcc.org.uk/caving/expeditions/castleguard09.php

http://enchantingchallenge.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/tulum-series-tulum-take-off-today/

Citation(3)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kyrenia_ship.jpg