The St. Oliver's Basilica site was surveyed by SHiP in May of 2021 to test several different geophysical prospection methods. The site was in the vicinity of a known, high density "village" site documented at the turn of the 20th century. The goal of the survey was to identify undisturbed original soils in the backlot of the residential property, and ground truth (i.e. excavate) potential geophysical anomalies.
The results of the survey demonstrated that simple soil probing is an effective method for delineating the boundaries of soil disturbances, particularly compaction and clay rich soils as a result of basement excavation practices common in home construction. Two micro-flakes of flint were recovered at the site in undisturbed soils less than five meters from the foundation of the home. The two flakes are not related to the late 18th century village activities documented in the area. However, the results of this survey were included in research on the integrity of prehistoric archaeological sites in dense urban settings, which is free to read here.
