PRESERVING HISTORIC AFRICAN AMERICAN GRAVESITES IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA USING GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL HUMAN REMAINS DETECTION DOGS

Throughout the American South, African American cemeteries and burial sites exist with little to no written records and their locations, histories, and significance need to be acknowledged and preserved. Since 2010, researchers and students at Western Carolina University, in cooperation with Martin Archaeology Consulting, have utilized ground-penetrating radar (GPR) in concert with archaeological human remains detection (AHRD) canines as non-invasive resources in archaeological investigations, particularly in mapping historical cemeteries.

To date, the African American Gravesite Preservation Project at Western Carolina University has documented over one hundred gravesites of free and formerly enslaved African Americans at five cemeteries in western North Carolina, located in Hayesville, Brevard, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In addition, a parallel effort is underway to locate and document burial sites of incarcerated African American laborers buried along the tracks during construction of the railroad between Old Fort and Swannanoa in the 1870s. Commemorative monuments have been placed at four of these sites, elucidating the history and sacrifice of those interred to the wider public.

All too often, African American cemeteries are poorly documented, poorly preserved, and long neglected. It is critical for a truly democratic nation to acknowledge this injustice and make every effort to recognize the lost souls of its history. Systematic GPR surveys coupled with disciplined searches by trained AHRD canines have proven to be essential tools in mapping and preserving these important historic sites.