Late-Quaternary Stratigraphy and Geoarchaeology of the Upper Neosho River Basin, East-Central Kansas

Abstract

In this study, a geoarchaeological approach was used to assess the potential for buried and surficial prehistoric cultural resources in the upper Neosho River basin of east-central Kansas. Specifically, lithostratigraphy (e.g. the DeForest Formation) and digital Soil Survey data (SSURGO) were used to estimate the relative ages of landform sediment assemblages (LSAs) in the study area. Surface-soil morphology was selected as a key indicator for predicting where the different members of the DeForest Formation occur, thereby providing estimated relative ages for LSAs. Field-truthing this hypothetical relationship between surface soils and members of the DeForest Formation included stratigraphic and geomorphic investigations. Numerical ages of alluvial deposits and associated buried soils were determined by radiocarbon dating. Some problems were encountered. For example, mapping late-Holocene members of the DeForest Formation is problematic based on SSURGO distributions because the data oversimplify the floodplain. Also, SSURGO data do not systematically or consistently map specific soils on alluvial/colluvial fans. Nevertheless, the results of this study suggest that surface soils are reliable indicators of the relative ages of early and middle Holocene LSAs, thereby providing archaeologists with a powerful tool for locating Paleoindian and Archaic cultural deposits in complex alluvial settings.