Hi Guys:

I have another unmarked cemetery question; went through the
archives and couldn't find the appropriate answer. I have this
unmarked cemetery I'm going to go look at (not me personally, but
let's say), and according to local legend, the bodies were
disinterred in the 1920s. We want to do an archive search and strip
off the plowzone, naturally. But.... I know that "disinterment" meant
different things to different generations. From hanging around in
archaeology, I've heard people comment about the different things
"moving a cemetery" means, from simply moving the headstones
to digging down and getting every last little shred. I even heard
about somebody using a bucket auger (don't ask where, I'm way
too old to remember such details). I have no idea, but an
impression, that "moving a cemetery" methodology varies over time
and place in the US and of course the rest of the world. Too bad
nobody's done a "history of American attitudes towards human
skeletal material" thesis (and if I'm wrong, somebody please! tell
me)

Obviously, digging into lots and lots of shafts to make sure there's
no skeletal remains is possible, but not desirable. Has anybody
ever looked at a "moved" cemetery?  What does a "disinterred"
graveshaft look like? Any suggestions would be warmly welcomed.

kris
K. Kris Hirst
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Louis Berger Group
950 50th Street
Marion, IA  52302-3853