James D. Hansen
GPR and bulk ground resistivity surveys in graveyards: Locating unmarked burials in contrasting soil types
Hansen, James D.; Pringle, Jamie K.; Goodwin, Jon
Abstract
With graveyards and cemeteries globally being increasingly designated as full, there is a growing need to identify unmarked burial positions to find burial space or exhume and re-inter if necessary. In some countries, for example the U.S. and U.K., burial sites are not usually re-used; however, most graveyard and cemetery records do not have maps of positions. One non-invasive detection method is near-surface geophysics, but there has been a lack of research to-date on optimal methods and/or equipment configuration. This paper presents three case studies in contrasting burial environments, soil types, burial styles and ages in the U.K. Geophysical survey results reveal unmarked burials could be effectively identified from these case studies that were not uniform or predicted using 225 MHz frequency antennae GPR 2D 0.5 m spaced profiles. Bulk ground electrical surveys, rarely used for unmarked burials, revealed 1 m probe spacings were optimal compared to 0.5 m, with datasets needing 3D detrending to reveal burial positions. Results were variable depending upon soil type; in very coarse soils GPR was optimal; whereas resistivity was optimal in clay-rich soils and both were optimal in sandy and black earth soils. Archaeological excavations revealed unmarked burials, extra/missing individuals from parish records and a variety of burial styles from isolated, brick-lined, to vertically stacked individuals. Study results, evidence unmarked burial targets were significantly different from clandestine burials of murder victims which are used as analogues.
Citation
Hansen, J. D., Pringle, J. K., & Goodwin, J. (2014). GPR and bulk ground resistivity surveys in graveyards: Locating unmarked burials in contrasting soil types. Forensic Science International, 237, e14 - e29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2014.01.009
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Jan 20, 2014 |
Online Publication Date | Jan 31, 2014 |
Publication Date | 2014-04 |
Publicly Available Date | May 26, 2023 |
Journal | Forensic Science International |
Print ISSN | 0379-0738 |
Publisher | Elsevier |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 237 |
Pages | e14 - e29 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2014.01.009 |
Keywords | Graves, Burials, Geophysics, GPR, Resistivity |
Files
FSI_graveyards_v4_all.pdf
(3.8 Mb)
PDF
Publisher Licence URL
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
You might also like
Bayesian yacht disaster: how specialist search and rescue teams work underwater
(2024)
Digital Artefact
Applications of geoforensic trace evidence
(2024)
Journal Article
Downloadable Citations
About Keele Repository
Administrator e-mail: research.openaccess@keele.ac.uk
This application uses the following open-source libraries:
SheetJS Community Edition
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
PDF.js
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
Font Awesome
SIL OFL 1.1 (http://scripts.sil.org/OFL)
MIT License (http://opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.html)
CC BY 3.0 ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
Powered by Worktribe © 2025
Advanced Search