Anderson&Morrow 2005.PDF

Spatial and Geophysical Surveys of the Amasa Stone Cemetery or Freedom Road Cemetery. Stoneboro, Sandy Lake Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania, 2022

In late 2021, representatives of Mercyhurst University's Department of Applied Forensic Sciences, HD Forensics, LLC, Precision Laser and Equipment Incorporated, and LaRoche University, performed geophysical and microtopography surveys of a portion of a historically documented African American cemetery linked to the Underground Railroad community of Liberia, Pennsylvania. Liberia would, in time, be absorbed into the current community of Stoneboro, Pennsylvania; and the cemetery would become known by a variety of names including the Amasa Stone Cemetery and the Freedom Road Cemetery. The 2021 season of exploration was requested by members of the Stoneboro community and represented an entirely volunteer effort. This report includes the results of those examinations, a brief history of the cemetery, and recommendations for future scientific work on the property.

2008

5. Grant products include: 1) a final project report that presents the results of studies at three cemeteries directed toward advancing techniques for the location and identification of unmarked graves by integrating innovative down-hole geophysical techniques and soil magnetic studies with near-surface geophysical surveys; 2) color digital images of project activities; and 3) an approximately 400-word article appropriate for a general audience. 6. Differences between planned and actual work costs include greater than expected salaries due to increased student salaries, and a decrease in travel expenses. Salaries increased $2905 in funds for student labor. This was offset by savings in travel expenses, including travel to the Institute for Rock Magnetism (IRM) at the University of Minnesota and Clay's travel to the Terrill cemetery. Planned and actual work costs in all other budget categories were closely matched.

2016

Detection of unmarked burials with geophysical methods of survey have had mixed results in the past, both in the archaeological domain as in the forensic science domain. Each method has shown several limitations on their own. The application of multiple methods on a single site has been investigated on three different sites in order to evaluate the effectiveness of interpreting multiple datasets against each other to locate unmarked burials. The sites selected offered relatively known locations for possible burials, allowing for easier verification whether a possible burial was detected. The interpretation of these multiple datasets has shown that it provides a higher degree of confidence when interpreting possible burial locations, as opposed to relying on a single interpretation.

Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 2009

1993

Transactions of La Societe Guernesiaise, 2012

2007

The author would like to thank the members of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska for their support and hard work completing the geophysical investigation phase of the project. Louis DeRoin (Iowa Tribe Executive Committee chairman) and Harvey Frederick (Iowa Tribe Executive Committee chairman) provided unlimited enthusiasm for the project and knowledge about the cemetery in northeastern Kansas. I would also like to thank Bill Fee, the tenant farmer, for his participation in the site assessment. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Bob Simmonds and Wes Fee, tribal employees, for their assistance during the mapping and data collection phases of the project. At MWAC, a number of people deserve credit for helping complete this project.

Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems 2003, 2003

Many privately owned historical cemeteries are found throughout the countryside in the United States. One such cemetery, known as the Reese Cemetery, dates back to the pioneer settlement of Indiana in the early 1800's, and is located near Muncie, Indiana. As is often the case, documentation of the individual graves is often incomplete or even non-existent, and as a result many of the oldest graves become lost because they are either completely unmarked or have illegible or broken headstones. The cemetery association responsible for the care of the Reese Cemetery determined that it was necessary to map the entire cemetery and find as much out as practical about the locations of unmarked graves. Because of strict regulations regarding the disturbance of historic cemeteries, it was deemed necessary to locate the unmarked graves, buried headstones, etc. using non-intrusive methods whenever possible. In July 2002, a detailed mapping project was performed on this one-acre (0.4-hectare) cemetery. Precision survey mapping of topography and individual headstones, written and photographic documentation of each headstone, and the completion of a geophysical survey were all performed to provide a lasting record of the cemetery. The techniques used included ground penetrating radar, terrain conductivity, and metal detection. This approach provided value both in terms of preserving the identity and locations of the graves and in offering insight into the locations of some unmarked graves. Ground penetrating radar amplitude mapping appears to have provided the single greatest insight and level of detail pertaining both to graves containing metallic objects (vaults and caskets) and graves retaining little more than disrupted soil strata and human remains. 1 Reese Cemetery , near Muncie in central Delaware County (Figure 1). Graves in this historical cemetery are known to range from 1819, early in Indiana's statehood, to as recent as the year 2000, which was the last burial to occur in this Figure 1. Location of Reese Cemetery in eastcentral Indiana, in Delaware County just southeast of Muncie.

American Antiquity

A long-term project to map and catalog all precontact Native American burial mounds in Iowa provides information about the number, location, form, survivorship, and rate of loss of mounds. This analysis reveals previously undocumented mound manifestations, including a large cluster of 200 linear mounds along the central Des Moines River valley. Historical records reveal that at least 7,762 mounds were identified at 1,551 sites in Iowa between 1840 and the present. About 47% of the mounds from these sites can be possibly seen in lidar, with 33% of the total clearly seen in lidar. Data show that mound loss over time is linear. Extrapolation of data suggests that at least 15,000–17,000 mounds stood in Iowa in the nineteenth century, but the actual number was likely higher.