Ground‐penetrating radar surveys used in archaeological investigations

Abstract

During 1982 and 1983, two ground‐penetrating radar surveys were carried out in conjunction with archaeological investigations in Canada. The first survey was a detailed, high‐resolution radar survey at the site of a sixteenth century Basque whaling station on the Labrador coast designed to locate the graves of the Basques. The second was a rapid, low‐resolution reconnaissance survey as part of a prehistory impact assessment program at the site of the new National Museum of Man in Hull, Quebec. Both surveys were experimental and were designed to see whether ground‐penetrating radar would be useful for identifying and locating anomalies of archeological significance. Radar was successful in detecting archeological anomalies several meters in size at both locations, and the high‐resolution survey was moderately successful in identifying Basque graves. Ongoing work involves comparing radar results with the archaeological investigations to increase the understanding of how radar can be applied to archaeology and to improve interpretation of radar responses to artifacts.