Combined Geophysical Approach in a Complex Arctic Archaeological Environment: A Case Study from the LdFa-1 Site, Southern Baffin Island, Nunavut

In 2014, we mapped the complex landscape of component Area 5 at LdFa‐1, a 3000‐year‐old Palaeoeskimo site located in the deep interior of southern Baffin Island, using a combined magnetic and electromagnetic approach to define the physical characteristics of any large‐ or small‐scale anthropogenic anomalies. Measurements were made using a GEM Systems Overhauser magnetometer‐gradiometer and Geonics EM31 instrument, and a survey configuration designed to map in high resolution the total magnetic field, magnetic susceptibility and electrical conductivity responses of the underlying soils. Data‐reduction methods were used for each survey, including, for example, removal of temporal drift, to produce final responses related closely to the subsurface physical properties. Six geophysical responses are presented in the results: total magnetic field, vertical magnetic gradient, horizontal‐ and vertical‐dipole‐mode apparent susceptibility, and horizontal‐ and vertical‐dipole‐mode apparent conductivity. Spatial assemblages of small‐scale (