Old Clarkesville Cemetary, Domorest, GA

As described in your email to me dated September 18, 2009 and as we discussed on the site, we conducted investigations in three portions of the cemetery in order to identify and delineate places at least 12 by 24 feet in area that contain no graves. The purpose of this investigation was to locate a suitable place to erect a chapel, probably one measuring about 12 by 24 feet. The three areas we investigated are roughly depicted on attached Map 1 (Location of Study Areas) and are labeled as slave area, central area and front grassy area. We conducted investigations at the central area during our visit in February 2009, and as you know, identified several possible graves that needed further work for positive identification as a grave.

The two primary means we used to locate unmarked graves were: close visual inspect of ground surfaces for slight, linear, east-west oriented depressions that signal a grave shaft and use of a 3-foot long, solid metal probe to locate the softer soils of an excavated and filled grave shaft (Photograph 1). The conditions for both techniques at the time of our visit were good. There was very little obscuring ground cover and the soil moisture content was such that the probing worked well. However, I must strongly caution that probing for grave shafts, even in good conditions, is still problematic, often producing ambiguous results. This is especially true for older cemeteries (such as this one) and for cemeteries that are subjected to foot and mower traffic (which may apply to this one). In spite of the limitations, probing is still the usual and preferred method to locate graves. One must be aware of the limitations and accept the caveats and cautionary language used to describe the results of probing. Other techniques, such as using Ground Penetrating Radar, also have limitations and also can produce ambiguous results, but could be considered a means to verify or clarify our results. Ground Penetrating Radar survey is expensive, relative to probing.