Development of an Archeological Predictive Model for Management of Military Lands

A framework has been developed for an archeological predictive model based on demonstrated relations among multiple geologic variables (e.g., topography, geochronology, rock type, geomorphology) for 81 previously identified cultural resource sites across diverse desert terrain. Results indicated that the most useful variables are deposit type, piedmont setting, geometric form, deposit age, surface age, desert pavement, surface horizon, and strongest subsoil horizon. Traditional sources for geologic and soil data available to most military installations are of low resolution or are incomplete. Rapid and cost-effective methods for collecting these data in desert terrains will be required to advance and implement archeological predictive models. The new model was applied initially to desert terrain conditions at the US Army National Training Center, Fort Irwin, CA, but it has potential for application across military lands throughout the southwestern US where as much as 80% of the holdings have not been inventoried for cultural resources.