I'm glad to see the discussions moving away from broad-scale mechanical
stripping of cemeteries and on to ideas such as coring. While mechanical
stripping may be an  appropriate first step in cemetery removals, there are
many techniques which allow recordation of limits and even identification of
individual graves without the landscape destruction of stripping.
 
Besides coring, we have had excellent success using a penetrometer, which is
a soil compaction tester. Our experience is primarily in the coastal plain,
although preliminary work in the piedmont suggests they work there just as
well. It is our experience that you begin to see clear ranges of soil
compaction for undisturbed subsoils as opposed to subsoil penetrated by grave
shafts and then backfilled. Penetrometers are also somewhat quicker than
coring and provide quantifiable (and reproducible, in our experience)
measurements. The cost ranges (depending on bells and whistles) between $200
and $2,000 (but, keep in mind that the FBI, which also uses this device,
finds the cheap models just as effective).
 
If anyone is interested I'd be happy to talk about the technique off-list.
 
Best,
 
Michael Trinkley, Ph.D.
Director
Chicora Foundation, Inc.
PO Box 8664
Columbia, SC  29202-8664
803/787-6910
Email: [log in to unmask]