Soil-Survey Reports and Archaeological Investigations

Most soil-survey reports published since about 1957 by the Soil Conservation Service portray the soils data on a series of photomap base sheets generally at a scale of 1:20,000. Since all or portions of many of the 203 counties for which the reports are available lack detailed topographic maps, the soil-survey reports help alleviate this deficiency and also provide an economical source of aerial photos for use in archaeological surveys. Moreover, the soil-survey data presented in the photomaps often provide valuable clues to the locations of sites and should not be overlooked in survey work.