The Drone Survey reveals a large earthen work at the ancestral Wichita site in Kansas

A study led by Dartmouth using multisensor drones has uncovered a large circular earth work on what could be the archaeological site, Itzanoa, near Wichita, Kansas. Archaeologists speculate that the site was visited in 1601 by a Spanish expedition led by Juan de Oate, a controversial conqueror. The work of the earth may be the remnants of the so-called “council circle”, as it does some other circular earth work. According to the findings of a study published in the region American antiquity.

“Our findings show that unfamiliar monumental lands may still exist in the Great Plains. All you need is a different archaeological approach to identify them,” said Jesse J., professor and chairman of the Department of Anthropology at Dartmouth. Kesana explained. He added, “Our results suggest that there may be many other impressive archaeological features that have not yet been documented, which is promising if we look hard enough.”

Archaeological facilities have a variety of thermal effects. After cooling the ground at night, the objects beneath the ground cool at different rates and excite the heat, enabling researchers to identify features based on thermal infrared radiation. Researchers obtained a thermal and multispectral image of the site using drones.

The 18 hectare area of ​​the site where the drone was surveyed is currently a municipal property in the Lower Walnut River Valley, used as pasture. Topographically, the area is flat with no visible archaeological features. However, the images show that there is an ancient, circular shaped pit in the basement that is 50 meters wide and about 2 meters thick that has penetrated. As the soil decomposes, it fills with different clay than before, and so it retains water differently which gives it unique thermal properties. Water retention levels also affect vegetation. Using near-infrared images, the researchers were able to identify areas where grass infiltration was more vigorous. As the study reports, the results provide evidence for what could be a “single, scattered population center” back in its day.

To confirm that these findings were not inconsistent, the team traveled to the U.S. The department collected time series of aerial and satellite images of the area from the Department of Agriculture and other federal agencies. They found that the circular feature was “actively visible in June 2015 and July 2017 but not in June 2012 or February 2017.”

The debate is over what council circles are used for, whether they are astronomical in nature or created for monological, political and / or defense purposes. Kasana added, “While we may never know what is used for council circles or its significance, new archaeological methods allow us to see that people created this earthquake.”