The Corditaipe archaeological site is a Paleoindian (12,900 - 11,600 cal years before present) encampment situated on a large glacial outwash terrace overlooking a tributary of the Mohawk River near Rome, New York. The site is unusual due to its large size and single-component nature. Jonathan Lothrop of the New York State Museum currently is leading archaeological excavations of the site. 

Starting during the summer of 2024, I became involved in the Corditaipe excavations. The purpose of this project is to determine if soil geochemistry can be used to document the spatial extent of caribou butchering at the site some ~12,000 years ago. Towards this end, I collected soil samples from Corditaipe with the assistance of student Joli Springborn. 

During the fall of 2024, recovered soil samples will be subject to a variety of laboratory tests including pH, conductivity, organic matter (via LOI), particle-size analysis (via Pario Meter), and elemental concentrations (via a benchtop XRF analysis). Laboratory work is being conducted with the assistance of biochemistry major Cleo McDermont. 

Stay tuned for results.