Results of Archaeogeophysical Surveying at the Great Friends Meeting House in Newport, Rhode Island

Summary

Archaeogeophysical surveys were carried out in October 2010 over a 30 x 50 m grid that was established immediately to the north and west of the north end of the Great Friends Meeting House (GFMH) in Newport, RI. The surveys were conducted using a Geonics EM-38 RT ground conductivity meter and a Mala X3M Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) system that was equipped with 500 and 800 MHz antennas. In addition, a resistance survey was performed over a much smaller central area using a Geoscan RM15 resistance meter. From this work three types of geophysical anomalies have been identified: those associated with individual features, structures,and graves. there may be one large structure to the north of the GFMH with a similar alignment. Forty-two anomalies were identified that are consistent with graves. There are many more anomalies that have not been specifically interpreted as graves because they did not meet enough of our criteria but may indeed be graves. We recommend that additional archaeogeophysical surveys be performed as well as a series of follow-up excavations to ground truth the interpretations.

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Contact(s): Ruth Taylor

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