Key Words: Ground Penetrating Radar, Clandestine Burials, Geophysical Applications in Anthropology, Historic Cemeteries introduction and purpose

The Crystal River site (C) is a large complex comprised of at least six mounds, the largest of which is over m tall, several burial mounds, platform mounds and three stone monuments (Thompson and Pluckhahn, 2010)
. The site’s construction began in Florida’s Late Archaic period (ca 3000 to 1000 BC) but is mostly noted for its use during the latter Woodland period (1000 BC to 1000 AD) which saw large populations of hunter-gatherers utilizing the site
(Sassaman, 2004; Thompson and Pluckhahn, 2010). At nearly acres, the site’s excavation is a large, ongoing undertaking. Thompson and Pluckhahn (2010) conducted a geophysical survey of the site to better discern the construction processes of the monumental architecture at the site. While resistivity surveys were undertaken for area mapping, the GPR investigations focused on the monumental architecture at the site. Surveys were conducted along grids at cm intervals utilizing a 400 MHz antenna. This provided excellent resolution of the monument construction process as depositional layers became apparent upon processing suggesting a purposeful, communal construction. GPR surveys on Mound Hat Crystal River also gave evidence of limestone blocks, collapsed and buried atop depositional layers (Figure 5). This may point to early occurrences of social stratification tied into mound construction and ideas of community in succeeding archaeological periods (Sassaman, 2004).
Figure 5. Reflection profile of Mound H, Crystal River (Thompson and Pluckhahn, 2010).

A second example of GPR use in Florida archaeological investigations can be found in the geophysical survey conducted at the Pineland Site Complex in southwest Florida Thompson et al., 2014). This site is associated with the Calusa peoples and represents one of their largest permanent settlements. While the site’s last habitation dates into the seventeenth century, there is evidence of consistent use for about 1700 years prior to that. Thompson and colleagues (2014) note that one challenge in investigating sites associated with the Calusa is their sheer size many sites exceed 125 acres. Large-scale views of these sites are improbable with limited time and resources, though a viable solution is the controlled geophysical assessment of these sites. Pineland represents distinctive late Calusa infrastructure canals, long mounds built high for house platforms, plazas, and a built environment into the nearby shoreline. All of this requires large populations and definite social complexity as such monumental tasks require much upkeep, especially systems of canals. GPR investigations were utilized in a grid at several locations using a 400 MHz antenna. On Citrus Ridge at the site the GPR was able to provide information about the early construction of this mound through amplitude slice maps. Interestingly, deeper anomalies were represented as smaller, circular structures with a changeover the next centuries to larger, multifamily structures (Figure 6). These culminated in the long, multifamily houses atop mounds that were mentioned in Spanish accounts at the time of contact (Thompson et al., 2014). GPR here provides invaluable information to the research at this site Traditional survey methods are unfeasible due to size, time, and landscape complexity which leaves this geophysical survey as the best possible option to allow fora large-scale, site- wide interpretation of past cultural periods. Through D imaging of GPR data, shifts in household economies may even be evaluated or utilized to form future research questions.

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