Methods
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The project archeologists chose
to view the battlefield as a crime scene
and by using a combination of forensic techniques
such as studies of firing pin marks on cartridge
cases and rifling marks on bullets, and
standard archeological field, laboratory,
and analytical techniques they have been
able to determine the variety of weapons
used by the various participants.
By combining crime lab methods
with the archeological constructs of spatial
patterning and individual artifact analysis,
they have been able to discover evidence
for the movement of individual firearms
over the field of battle, verify cavalry
positions, and define previously unknown
Indian fighting areas.
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Pin
flags marking where artifacts were found.
The figures are assisting in plotting and
recording the artifacts. This location was
later determined to be an Indian position.
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Forensic
studies on the human skeletal remains have
revealed information about the wounds the
men received, as well as their general health
and condition at the time of death. The
archeological work consisted of three parts.
The first was a metal detector inventory
of the battlefield. Volunteers, experts
in the use of detectors, walked about 5
meters apart covering the field.
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A sketch of volunteers using metal
detectors on the battlefield.
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When
their detectors `beeped', they marked
the area with a pinflag. Behind them
came the recovery crew. These people
would excavate cautiously, searching
for the object that caused the detector
to signal. When found, the object was
carefully left in place. Finally, the
survey crews came along.
Using
either a transit or theodolite, these
crews would set up on a predetermined
datum point and determine the angle
and distance of the surrounding artifacts
from that point. This crew would make
notes on the depth of the artifact
below ground surface, and in the case
of bullets and cartridges, also note
the orientation and the declination
of the piece. Only then was the artifact
collected.
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Another
phase of the archeological work was
the excavations, which were centered
on a series of marble markers. The marble
markers which dot the battlefield were
placed to commemorate the location where
one of Custer's men fell. However, they
were set in place fourteen years after
the battle, and more than nine years
after the bodies were disinterred and
placed in a mass grave near where Custer's
body was found on Last Stand Hill.
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are 252 markers on the main battlefield,
yet only about 210 men fell with
Custer, suggesting some of the
markers are spurious. Thus, one
reason to excavate around the
markers was to test the accuracy
of their locations. NEXT
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An iron arrowhead, one of only
10, found during the field investigations.
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