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Quantifying tillage intensity as a contributing factor to tillage erosion at archaeological sites in Kansas
Murphy, Conner
Murphy, Conner
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URCAF_2026_Murphy.pdf
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2026-04-24
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Murphy, Conner; Howland, Matthew D. 2026. Quantifying tillage intensity as a contributing factor to tillage erosion at archaeological sites in Kansas. -- In Proceedings: 25th Annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Forum. Wichita, KS: Wichita State University.
Abstract
Tillage of agricultural fields drives tillage erosion, which has major negative impacts on the integrity of archaeological sites. Historically, humans have settled on fertile agricultural land, meaning that archaeological sites are particularly at risk from this type of erosion. Kansas, an agricultural-centric region, contains an abundance of archeological sites. Using field methods to assess archeological site damage by tillage is time and resource intensive. Alternative methods in remote sensing platforms provide a promising avenue of greater regional analysis of tillage intensity. Therefore, we sought to understand how tillage intensity varied across Kansas using remote sensing. Along with that, we observed how tillage intensity around archeological sites vary across Kansas in order to identify the sites at greatest risk of ongoing tillage erosion. Finally, we wished to determine how applicable the model was for other analyses. We investigated these research questions using Google Earth Engine and ArcGIS Pro analysis of Sentinel-2 images in Kansas using normalized difference indexes for vegetation (NDVI) and tillage (NDTI). Using those indices, we built a residue cover calculation to measure tillage. Our results show that tillage is widespread across Kansas and its archaeological sites. Sites near corn and soybean fields experienced high levels of tillage, indicating possible harm to artifacts and contexts present in those sites. Utilizing these analyses would enable preservation of high-risk sites of particular importance that have been deemed as such. These protections would ensure that pieces of human culture are documented and harbored, preventing history from being lost permanently.
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Presented to the 25th Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Forum (URCAF) held in Woolsey Hall, Wichita State University, April 24, 2026.
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Wichita State University
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URCAF;v.25