MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- X-ray machines have gone beyond hospital operating rooms and gone mobile with geophysicists, helping them find artifacts at excavation sites across Camp Pendleton.
The handheld X-ray device, or magnetometer, provides archeological staff with information on where to break ground. Magnetometers have been available to the archeological community for the past five years and continue delivering unparalleled results.
“This equipment is the key to bringing archeology into the 21st century,” said Daniel O. Larson, archeological geophysicist with Larson Environmental, contracted through the Assistant Chief of Staff’s Environmental Security Office, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. Now we have the ability to find underground villages and artifacts that may have remained covered forever, said Larson.
Magnetometers have the ability to make an estimated 8,000 to 12,000 measurements in a 20 meter area, painting a 3-dimensional map for archeologists to follow.
The technology was instrumental in the recent discovery of artifacts from a civilization on base that dates back 7,000 years before present. This information challenges researchers around the world to second guess when the southern California area was settled. Most dates place the area at 9,000 BP, but never before had artifacts put a date so close.
Before present is an age scale used by archeologists that sets 1950 as the origin to determine how long ago events occurred.
For example, the year 1949 would be 1BP. However, for events after 1950, there is not a scale, so 1951 would be the year 1951.
“Military initiatives have a contribution to make past what military personnel are seeing today,” said Larson. “Magnetometers were originally invented by the military to find possible mines or improvised explosive devices and has since branched into private organizations.”
The machine detects the density and composition of metal in the earth’s surface and sends back a read out of information. Researchers are then able to determine whether the spot is suitable for excavation.
“If we get a reading of dense metal deposits it tells us a few things,” said Larson. “Fire purifies and engulfs certain minerals, always leaving metallic deposits. These deposits tell us where civilizations might have existed. Fire has been used by people since prehistoric times and is a wonderful indicator,” he added.
This is the best equipment available and is something we are so fortunate to have, said Larson. The recognition needs to go out to the base officials who support this effort. This effort speaks worlds to the amount of time and energy the base is dedicating to our cause.
“Learning as much as you can about your past is crucial to a society or civilization,” said Wayne J. Glenny, archeologist, EDAW, Inc., contracted through the Assistant Chief of Staff’s Environmental Security Office, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. “You can’t understand where you’re going until you’ve discovered where you’ve been.”