Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: Geophysical measurements were carried out around Saulges caves that sought to highlight the local karstic morphologies and the impact on preservation of archaeological material within the caves. Electrical resistivity tomographies (ERTs) and apparent conductivity mapping detected a soil cover on the plateaus that ends abruptly over fractured limestone or over a bowl‐shaped structure filled with clay soil. Moreover, there is at least one zone of soil accumulation with a basin form with almost no soil cover around this structure. The ERT and seismic refraction tomography (SRT) detected an important anomaly in the valley. Many clues indicate that this anomaly is a karstic conduit filled with water or clay. Therefore, some karstic dissolution zones have been found and only geophysical methods are able to detect such features. Detection of preferential pathways could help to protect prehistoric art within the caves and new karstic morphologies help to better understand this karstic system. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Source: Archaeological Prospection
DOI: 10.1002/arp.385
Institutions: Milieux environnementaux, transferts et interactions dans les hydrosystèmes et les sols, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre de Recherche en Archéologie, Archéosciences, Histoire, Université Rennes 1, Université de Rennes, Histoire Naturelle des Humanités Préhistoriques, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, Université de Rouen Normandie
Language: English
Subfield: Geophysics
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2034658235