North America: GPR Surveying at Historic Cemeteries

Abstract

GPR remote sensing has found one its most successful archaeological applications in the discovery and mapping of historic burial sites in North America (Doolittle et al. 2010; Bevan 1991; Conyers 2006; King et al. 1993). One of the first applications of GPR in cemeteries for discovering unmarked graves were initiated nearly four decades ago by Bevan and Kenyon 1975. The primary motivation for GPR surveys has often been to assist in the mitigation of sites by helping to detect the presence of unmarked burials. Cemeteries have come under constant pressure from development projects and knowing the areal extent of cemeteries in prime land areas has been crucial. Many cemeteries which are not under developmental pressures may have been abandoned or lacked funds to maintain the sites. Often these cemeteries are missing headstones or site markers after being vandalized or from just plain neglect over time. There are new and growing cemetery management efforts to find unmarked burials so that vacant spaces in these cemeteries can be sold as new burial plots.