October is Archaeology Month! Today’s post by Guest Contributor PennDOT archaeologist Steve McDougal covers using a non-traditional method for field tests: the Paleo-Digger.

Every archaeological survey poses different conditions and challenges. For PennDOT’s SR 22/322 safety improvement project in Northern Dauphin County, one of the big challenges is the depth of soils involved. Past excavation in the 1990s for this area showed us that the soil column with archaeological potential could extend 3.5 to 4.5 meters (11.5 to 14.75 feet) in depth below current ground surface.

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