Geoff Jones running the GPR at the Hewitt House Site

Geoff Jones of Archaeo-Physics sent me the preliminary results of our geophysics survey at potential excavation sites in the Hamline area. He found that his ground-penetrating radar produced solid indications of subsurface structures. We examined a couple of ‘house sites’ – locations where houses have been removed. I’m hoping to find some backyard features to dig in these locations. We also looked at the Methodist church site. The church’s west wall, where we dug in 2007, was obvious even to my untrained eyes. It looks like we also identified the east wall (where I plan to dig this year). I must wait for Geoff’s full report to find out if we have any interesting features to investigate. No matter the results, it’ll be an educational experience to have geophysics incorporated into this fall’s fieldwork. Geoff will be giving a talk on his methods for my class followed by additional survey work at the church site. We plan to time this fall’s survey so that any interested individuals can join us to see how it works. I’m excited because I’ll be learning along with my students – learning how we can see beneath the ground without having to move any dirt.

A ground-penetrating radar plot of the Methodist church site