Mapping unmarked graves with Ground Penetrating Radar at the Walkerville Wesleyan Cemetery, Adelaide

Moffat, Ian; Linsell, John; Vella, Anthea; Duke, Belinda; Kowlessar, Jarrad; Griffith, John; Down, Allison

doi:10.1080/03122417.2020.1748831

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 16 publications

(12 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The first documented use of ground-penetrating radar in archaeological exploration was in the mid-1970s when Vicker [5] used it to locate buried walls associated with Native American structures. Numerous instances of ground-penetrating radar archaeology have been reported around the world since then [6][7][8][9]. Ground-penetrating radar has become increasingly utilized in archaeological exploration by China, mainly for site detection, city wall disease detection, and foundation inspection [10][11][12][13][14][15][16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research on the Technique of Determining the Internal Structure of Ancient Stone Pagodas Based on the Discriminant Features of Ground Penetrating Radar

Zhang,

Xu,

Qian

et al. 2024

Applied Mathematics and Nonlinear Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Obtaining detailed information about the design and construction of ancient stone pagodas is challenging due to their significant age. Due to this, the internal structure is still unknown, and the analysis of their structural safety lacks a solid foundation. The purpose of this paper is to research ancient stone pagodas and propose adequate methods for identifying their internal structure and assessing their damage status using ground-penetrating radar nondestructive detection technology. The internal structure of the pagoda is inferred through a comprehensive process of layer-by-layer scanning using shielded antennas of varying frequencies, incorporating distance correction. The results demonstrate that by selecting suitable radar antenna frequencies, both test profiles become visible, and the position and characteristics of the internal substantial reflection area exhibit a high degree of consistency, mutually reinforcing each other. The White Pagoda in Hangzhou is believed to have both a mortise and tenon joint structure and a column structure. The ground penetrating radar detection method proves to be effective and has valuable applications.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research on the Technique of Determining the Internal Structure of Ancient Stone Pagodas Based on the Discriminant Features of Ground Penetrating Radar

Zhang,

Xu,

Qian

et al. 2024

Applied Mathematics and Nonlinear Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…All workers agree that the C-scans play a vital role in interpretation, but also agree with Conyers' (2006) original observation that "reflection hyperbolas from caskets" and "vertical shaft truncation" are typically the most distinct GPR features of graves in B-scans. Moffat et al (2020) recommend classifying C-scan anomalies that span multiple adjacent B-scans as "probable graves" if they indicate a rectangular zone of stratigraphic disruption of the appropriate dimensions (approximately 1 Â 2 m) and an orientation that is consistent with markers such as headstones and topographic depressions. Pringle et al (2012) discuss some of the differences between legal and clandestine burials and also how other factors such as age and style of burial, soil salinity and clay content can affect radar signatures of graves.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moffat et al (2020) recommend classifying C‐scan anomalies that span multiple adjacent B‐scans as “probable graves” if they indicate a rectangular zone of stratigraphic disruption of the appropriate dimensions (approximately 1 × 2 m) and an orientation that is consistent with markers such as headstones and topographic depressions. Pringle et al (2012) discuss some of the differences between legal and clandestine burials and also how other factors such as age and style of burial, soil salinity and clay content can affect radar signatures of graves.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A methodology for the self‐training and self‐assessing of new GPR practitioners: Measuring diagnostic proficiency illustrated by a case study of a historic African‐American cemetery for unmarked graves

Martin

Everett

2023

Archaeological Prospection

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys of African‐American cemeteries suspected to contain unmarked graves, determining the proficiency of a new GPR practitioner is vital and perhaps even more fundamental than that of the GPR hardware, deployment configuration and software. Proficiency may be defined as the practitioner's true‐positive, true‐negative, false‐positive (i.e., false alarms) and false‐negative (i.e., misses) percentages. We embarked on this research as a means to improve our own proficiency in unmarked grave detection and to develop an algorithm by which to improve the proficiency of any new GPR practitioner. After surveying the Salem Cemetery in Brazos County, TX, and the Old Danville‐Shepherd Hill Cemetery in Montgomery County, TX, we first classified subsurface targets based on in‐field, visual inspection of the real‐time, onscreen, unprocessed (except for an automatic gain control) GPR B‐scans. We then developed a proxy for ground‐truthing that allowed us to calculate the proficiency of the in‐field classifications. From this proxy, we established a quantitative prevalence threshold for identifying or rejecting a subsurface object as a target of interest. Its quantitative nature allowed us to quantitatively control and adjust that threshold, a threshold we set at 70% likely to be to a specific target of interest. We show that our classification accuracy increased from 66.2% at the Salem Cemetery to 75.0% at the Old Danville‐Shepherd Hill Cemetery and, through use of diagnostic evaluations originally developed for medical imaging and herein applied to geophysics, showed that the accuracy improved due to increases in true‐negative classifications, that is, in examining real‐time, onscreen, mostly unprocessed GPR B‐scans, discerning a potential target and correctly concluding it was not an unmarked grave. This research outlines the procedure we developed to measure the proficiency of a new GPR practitioner.

show abstract

“…However, in another study, Aziz et al (2016) has successfully located unmarked wooden caskets in the historic Mueschke Cemetery in Houston, Texas, using 3D GPR and Terrestrial Laser Scanning surveys. Similarly, Moffat et al (2020) used the GPR to detect 256 graves at the historic Walkersville Wesleyan Cemetery in Australia, 20 of them are unmarked graves. Barone et al (2016) to detect and document the unmarked graves in the oldest section of the non‐Catholic cemetery in Rome and allowed for the corroboration of the historic burial record.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ground Penetrating Radar detection of unmarked historic graves at the Fairlawn Cemetery in Stillwater, Oklahoma

Diab

Ismail

2022

Archaeological Prospection

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey was conducted to detect historic unmarked graves from the period of the Civil War (1861-1865) at the Fairlawn Cemetery in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The GPR survey at the Fairlawn Cemetery will help preserve the unmarked historic graves if they exist or clear sections of the cemetery for possible expansion. GPR detection of historic graves are often a challenge as these graves are made of wooden boxes, bones and coffins, with no metal caskets or concrete burial vaults. It was even more challenging to detect unmarked graves in this study as the cemetery is covered with iron-rich silty clay soil, which attenuates the GPR signals. We conducted the GPR survey along a grid consisting of 44 parallel 30-m-long profiles spaced at 50-cm intervals using the 400-MHz antenna. The acquired GPR data were processed as 2D profiles and produced a pseudo-3D GPR volume to resolve the unmarked graves. Multiple features extracted from the pseudo-3D volume at depths ranging from 0.7 to 1.3 m aligned along three north-south rows.Based on the dimensions, orientation, distribution and depth of burial of the anomalous features relative to the recent graves, we interpreted these features as unmarked graves. This study has demonstrated the GPR as an effective non-invasive technique in detecting historical unmarked graves that contain no metal caskets or concrete burial vaults. This work will contribute not only to the science of historical archaeology but also to prehistorical archaeology, as caskets were not typically part of the prehistorical burials, and the modern-day archaeology, particularly in the cases of mass graves in recent conflicts.

show abstract

Mapping unmarked graves with Ground Penetrating Radar at the Walkerville Wesleyan Cemetery, Adelaide

Cited by 8 publications

References 16 publications

Research on the Technique of Determining the Internal Structure of Ancient Stone Pagodas Based on the Discriminant Features of Ground Penetrating Radar

Research on the Technique of Determining the Internal Structure of Ancient Stone Pagodas Based on the Discriminant Features of Ground Penetrating Radar

A methodology for the self‐training and self‐assessing of new GPR practitioners: Measuring diagnostic proficiency illustrated by a case study of a historic African‐American cemetery for unmarked graves

Ground Penetrating Radar detection of unmarked historic graves at the Fairlawn Cemetery in Stillwater, Oklahoma

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About