GROUND PENETRATING RADAR MAPPING IN THE RIVERSIDE CEMETERY, SWANTON, VT REVEALS A LONG-FORGOTTEN DRAINAGE PIPE

We were invited by the Swanton Vermont Cemetery Commission to perform a ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey of the mostly disused northeastern corner of the Riverside Cemetery to investigate whether the field was suitable for new burials. The roughly 400 m² field sits between a cemetery access road and a tree line above the floodplain of the Missisquoi River. The only objects visible in the field are ten scattered historical burial monuments and a small pine tree. We generated a 3-dimensional subsurface map by surveying a 23 m N-S by 17 m E-W grid in 0.5 m transects using a Sensors & Software Noggin GPR with a 250 MHz antenna. We were then able to view our map in 0.10 m depth slices and overlay the results on Google Earth and drone overhead images of the field.

While we did not find evidence of any unmarked burials in the field, we were able to determine that the northeastern corner of the field had been filled in to bring it level with the rest of the field, and that the area along the access road had been raised above the field level with fill. Most surprising was the discovery of a drainage pipe running diagonally across the southeastern corner of the field at about 1.3 m depth and sloped downwards towards the river. The pipe which was previously unknown to both the Cemetery Commission and the local Highway Department may have been from a farm which existed on the property until about 1882.