Better get an ARPA permit. The sites are in USACOE jurisdictional areas,
meaning that removal of artifacts is a felony. We've had collectors
arrested here in Kentucky for removal of artifacts during drawdowns.
What I've found from drawdown surveys is that most sites are in very
poor condition (if you can find 'em!), due to erosion. In most cases,
the upper 1 1/2 or 2 feet of soil is simply gone, or conversely, areas
near the head of a drain are buried in deep mud flats.

Daniel B. Davis
Archaeologist Coordinator
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet
Division of Environmental Analysis
200 Mero Street
Frankfort, KY 40622
(502) 564-7250
-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Meli
Diamanti
Sent: Friday, April 13, 2007 1:56 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Dam archaeology

Unfortunately, around here (central Pennsylvania) it means that the same

sites are exposed for artifact hunters to pick over year after year.  
I'm specifically thinking of prehistoric sites on the valley floor, in 
former cultivated fields that are now regularly inundated and exposed 
with the seasons for floodwater management.
Meli Diamanti

Graham wrote:

> Thanks Gwyn yes,
>
> Another Hist-Arch lister has mentioned the same, the fact that in  
> some (US) states reservoir water levels are lowered in winter to  
> allow for the coming spring melt, exposing areas usually inundated.  
> Does this allow for the same sites to be analysed on a regular basis?

> Seems to me an excellent opportunity to test for and experiment with  
> taphonomic processes.
>
> Graham Knuckey - [log in to unmask]
>