Abstract
Little Salt Spring (8So18) is a submerged prehistoric archaeological site located in southern Sarasota County 20 km (12 miles) from the Gulf of Mexico. In 1992, a combination of high-resolution videography and geographical information systems (GIS) software was chosen as the primary method for mapping and recording underwater excavations at Little Salt Spring due to the advantages it offers (Gifford, 1993: 167). The progress of excavation in 2×2 meter squares is recorded using a digital video camera in an underwater housing. Individual images are captured from the video and georeferenced using GIS software to create photomosaics for each excavation level. There have been many improvements in the technology of videography and GIS since it was first implemented at Little Salt Spring. This internship had as its goal the development of an updated, standardized procedure that would be used to create an accurate photomosaic for each excavation level of the site. In addition to being the primary spatial record of each level, the digital photomosaics would also serve as the primary method of documenting the spatial context (i.e., provenience) of artifacts and ecofacts once they have been recovered from the excavation levels. I have worked with Dr. Gifford in order to develop a standard operating procedure for creating the photomosaics, and the following paper is the result of our collaboration.