Laserfiche WebLink
7 <br />• physiographic conditions of slope and aspect, and on the nature and <br />density of local vegetation. In one respect, the physiographic vari- <br />ables can operate as natural factors to determine whether cultural mate- <br />rials would remain in place or be transported by natural physical means, <br />or whether cultural materials would be covered by sterile deposits which <br />might completely cover the site locality. In another respect, slope <br />and aspect could also have operated in a cultural sense by providing <br />conditions which could have been perceived by the aboriginal mind as <br />either positive or negative factors in selecting a site or an activity <br />location. <br />That slope and aspect could have been culturally defined factors <br />should not be ignored. Unfortunately, this information is largely lost <br />to those working in the present, and little can be said regarding both <br />at this time. More importantly, the slope determines, to some extent, <br />the degree to which natural forces might have modified the landscape <br />in the time between occupation of a locality and its subsequent dis- <br />covery by the archaeologist. Sheet erosion, solifluction, and other <br />mass-wasting processes operate to a greater degree as the percentage <br />of grade increases. This raises the possibility that a site would either <br />be covered or its artifact content would be transported in disturbed <br />form to another location, downslope from the original locus. On the <br />other hand, a more moderate slope decreases the potential for distur- <br />bance, but also increases the possibility of more deposition from above. <br />As a consequence, slopes with a grade exceeding 15% were generally sub- <br />jected to less intensive survey. This was considered to be the maxi- <br />• mum grade that would allow cultural materials to remain in situ, <br />+_ <br />