Susan,

That would have been my response as well ... Depending on the timing
issues, the cheapest (and as far as I am concerned) the best way to do
this is to plow the field after the crops come out, let it weather through
a few rains, and then do a gridded, controlled surface collection (10-m
grid seems to work pretty well) ... The significant site areas should be
readily discernible with very little cost.

Mark
___________________________________

Mark C. Branstner, RPA
Historic Archaeologist

Illinois State Archaeological Survey
Prairie Research Institute
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
209 Nuclear Physics Lab, MC-571
23 East Stadium Drive
Champaign, IL 61820

Phone: 217.244.0892
Fax: 217.244.7458
Cell: 217.549.6990
[log in to unmask]

"Memory vectors collective success for any people."
--- Randall Robinson.







On 11/23/11 11:04 AM, "Susan Walter" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Question:  What if this is not affordable?
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Al Tonetti" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2011 12:11 PM
>Subject: Re: MI Pioneer cabin site
>
>
>> Ditch the STPs for a gradiometer survey at the two loci.  For e.g., see
>> http://www.ovacltd.com/Geophys_Scofield.shtml.
>>
>> Al Tonetti
>> Cultural Resource Specialist
>> ASC Group, Inc.
>> 800 Freeway Drive North, Suite 101
>> Columbus, OH 43229
>> [log in to unmask]
>> 614-268-2514 x3547
>> http://www.ascgroup.net/
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
>>Marty
>> Pickands
>> Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2011 12:29 PM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: MI Pioneer cabin site
>>
>> Hello, Kris-
>>
>> I have no experience on settler's cabins in Michigan, only in upstate
>>New
>> York. However, as you are probably aware, many New Yorkers moved on to
>> settle in Michigan. The sites I have seen or worked on dated to the
>>early
>> 19th c. In each case they were located on the highest spot in the area,
>>or
>> the edge of a drop off, for drainage. Each was surrounded by a thin
>>sheet
>> refuse deposit with very little glass or metal. The structure was
>> represented by a fieldstone footing only two or thee courses deep with
>>a 
>> pit
>> cellar 4-5 feet deep in the middle. These were storage spaces under a
>> wooden
>> floor. Of course, not all cabins had those, but only dirt floors. All
>>were
>> next to a road, and many had been replaced by a more formal house
>>nearby.
>>
>> There was very little metal. Often these cabins, in our area, had bark
>>or
>> plank roofs held in place by poles and stones. Most were built by
>> immigrants
>> from New England after the revolution. One exception was a Prussian
>> traditional two-room log house with a formal stone footing, that was
>>later
>> was moved to a full foundation with a stone-floored cellar and acquired
>> clapboard siding, plastered walls and a frame addition, as often
>>happened. 
>> A
>> number of these in New York and Pennsylvania are still not only
>>standing 
>> but
>> lived in- the owners sometimes unaware that they are living in a log
>> house.
>> These houses were different from "settler's cabins" even when built by
>> settlers, in that they were built to be permanent. Settler's cabins were
>> meant to be temporary shelters.
>>
>> I'd bet on the rise as the house site. The brick is a good sign. The
>>metal
>> detector would probably not show anything there except an occasional
>> button
>> or dropped personal item. The other location may be a shed or small barn
>> related to it. You might try close interval STPs on that area and the
>>one
>> where you had the metal hits. Alternatively narrow slit trenches can be
>> dug
>> with minimal effort into the subsoil to detect soil discolorations that
>> STPs
>> may miss. They cover more area and do not take a lot more time than
>>close
>> interval STPs.
>>
>> Marty Pickands
>> New York State Museum
>>>>> Kris Oswald 11/21/11 7:47 AM >>>
>> Morning to all
>>
>>
>> I have just begun site testing(stp work) of a Pioneer cabin site in
>> Michigan and have a couple questions if I may, the wheat field that it
>> is located in is approx 80 acre's and has not been dragged/ plowed or
>> tilled in many years and the wheat for winter is resting a foot high. A
>> metal detector survey of the site was done a couple of years back with
>> some good results but conflicts with the Families story on where the
>> cabin was located.I have brick fragments on the highest elevation as
>> well at the lower section closest to original road bed where most of the
>> personal artifacts have been recovered. I am looking for any resource
>> materials on Michigan Pioneer Cabin Excavation. the concentration
>> level's of material from the STP's are light at best, is it possible
>> that the only remains of the site are articulated across the field?. I
>> feel that until the soil has been turned to expose more surface
>> artifact my STP work will take forever. Any thoughts on this? I value
>> your opinions
>> P.S. not sure when the field will be worked again
>>
>> Thanks in Advance
>>
>> Kris Oswald
>> Linden Mi
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