Journal of History and Culture Journal of History and Culture

j o u r n a l o f h i s t o r y a n d c u l t u r e
Whether burials began in 1898 or 1922, the site is a likely place for a slave burial ground. The soil is very
sandy and therefore would not have been suitable for agricultural purposes, which would have made the site a good
candidate for a slave burial ground. It is bounded to the north and west by Pond Creek, making it easy to locate.
And there are several large trees at the northern edge of the site, along the boundary of Pond Creek and near the
fenced enclosure, that may also have served as location markers.
The geophysical data indicate that Wyatt Chapel Cemetery contains numerous unmarked graves. Excavations
confirmed two geophysical anomalies to be burials. We also used geophysical data to investigate a subsurface anomaly
to determine whether it had any cultural significance. We traced the extent of the sand-clay boundary where it
suddenly deepens on the GPR data in an attempt to determine whether this deepening of the horizon was the result
of natural processes or human activity. The southern limit of the deep horizon was identified, but dense vegetation
prevented identifying the edges of the horizon in the other directions. The northern extent of the deeper horizon
appears to coincide with the large trees that bound the main clearing at the site. This was initially interpreted as
evidence that the deep horizon may have been man-made, since a paleochannel feature would have pre-dated the
trees and should therefore not be affected by their placement. Tree roots appear as deep as 30 ns at the northern
ends of the GPR profiles (see Figure 6), but the sand-clay boundary is significantly deeper than that (~60 ns) and
therefore not likely to be affected by the roots.
The variability in the sand-clay boundary in the main clearing of Wyatt Chapel Cemetery has several
possible interpretations. Anthropogenic causes for the change in this reflector are not entirely consistent with the
data collected. The continuous horizon lies undisturbed for most of the bottom of the trench indicating a stream
bed or a slump from subsidence. The geometry of the surface displayed in Figure 6 is consistent with a channel.
Anthropogenic causes for this trench would not leave a continuous horizon; it would leave the horizon broken and
disturbed. Therefore, the abrupt depth changes in the sand-clay boundary are most likely related to a paleochannel
of Pond Creek rather than a large excavation or other man-made feature.
We were able to demonstrate the efficacy of utilizing 3-D grids of GPR lines at this site (see Figure 7), which
should be followed up in future studies. 3-D grids of GPR lines can provide detailed pictures of the subsurface that
can reveal additional information about burials at the site. We also recommend clearing a larger area to acquire
more GPR data and map the boundaries of the cemetery.
65