“Ground Truthing” the graveyard: An archaeological and geophysical examination of 18th century burials and buildings at the Fortress of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia

Abstract

The application of geophysical survey techniques at archaeological sites has provided valuable information on buried anthropogenic features over the last several decades. As these technologies have developed, they have become more applicable within the study of archaeology. For this thesis project, three geophysical survey techniques, including magnetic susceptibility measurements, magnetic gradiometry, and ground penetrating radar, were used at the 18th century Rochefort Point Cemetery site at Fortress of Louisbourg, NS in an effort to identify historic, unmarked graves. “Ground-truthing” was then accomplished by comparing these three geophysical data sets against two bioarchaeological data sets, including geospatial interment data and grave good analysis, to determine which method provided the most accurate information on interment location. Overall, this study demonstrated how a combination of geophysical and bioarchaeological techniques can be used in tandem to progress bioarchaeological research in general, and more specifically, within the context of 18th century unmarked graves.