A church was concerned that its walled cemetery excluded some very old unmarked graves, likely containing wooden caskets, given their age. To resolve this uncertainty, RETTEW conducted a ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey to detect any anomalies that might represent unmarked burials.

RETTEW scanned the areas just outside the cemetery boundary walls with a digital GPR system using a dual-frequency antenna, which is capable of scanning to depths of 6 to 8 feet, along parallel profiles spaced only 2 feet apart to ensure complete coverage (see image above).

The image above also shows the locations of five discrete targets detected outside the cemetery boundary walls that had dimensions and depths characteristic of possible graves. According to the GPR signal for known burials inside the wall, all five targets detected outside the wall exhibited the same GPR signature. Because they were possible graves, the church modified its boundary to include them. The graves are now protected from disturbance by any future construction or earth moving.