Over the last 30 years, the Connecticut Office of State Archaeology and
the Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource Conservation Service
have entered into a partnership employing ground-penetrating radar (GPR)
to the study of the state's archaeology and history. As a result, many
historical cemeteries and places of note in Connecticut have been
investigated. The authors have selected 10 geophysical surveys, which
have used GPR as a non-intrusive, non-destructive exploratory tool, that
have elicited positive results in the search for unmarked burials,
confirmation of marked burials and to authenticate areas of known
historical events.
This book narrates the stories of GPR studies at 10 historical sites in
Connecticut, spanning the 17th to the 20th centuries. Each chapter
investigates and highlights a 'history mystery' and differing aspects of
our research, including the 'lost' grave of an African-American
Revolutionary War veteran, the verification of French Revolutionary War
military personnel in a mass grave, the detection of a below-ground
hidden 19th-century family burial tomb, the discovery of hurriedly dug,
unmarked burials associated with the 1918 influenza pandemic and the
detection of the unknown location of a 1941 military plane crash site,
among others.
Professionally, the authors have over 40 years' experience in GPR, soil
science and archaeology. They bring their collective expertise to the
reader in a scientific approach with a personal, story-telling touch.
Each chapter delves into the history of the sites and the nature of the
geophysical search (i.e., how the equipment was used) and the
interpretation of the data in regard to solving a historical problem.
