I’ve been doing field archaeology since the late 1970’s, and I’m continually amazed at how much has changed since then. Had we conducted this project back in the 70’s, we would have begun the search for Wise’s cabin with a huge number of hand excavated test units placed in the myriad locations where the cabin foundation might be, possibly supplemented with some metal detector surveying.  It would have taken many weeks and a great deal of money.  Now everything is different!  Paul McCarthy (no relation to the famous ex-Beatle) is a student of Dr.  Bernd Kulesa in IUP’s Geology program. Under Bernd’s direction, Paul conducted a magnetometer and resistivity survey of the suspect location  of Wise’s cabin. This involves simply walking over the project area along mapped gridlines with instruments that record slight changes, or anomalies, in the earth’s magnetic field and in sub-surface resistivity (ability to conduct,  or not conduct, an electrical current).  While the presence of the hard-surfaced Lamb’s Knoll road caused some interference for the resistivity meter, and some roadside powerlines interfered with parts of the magnetometer survey, Paul’s survey successfully identified several areas with significant anomalies. These areas could contain the Wise cabin and well, or might represent later, or earlier, episodes of building or other land use now sealed beneath the ground.  The survey has saved us weeks of ‘hunting and pecking’ and has put us in position to employ more traditional excavation-based techniques later this summer.