Researchers using ground-penetrating radar have found what they believe is one of the oldest European graveyards in Canada.
Archeologist Sara Beanlands says there is compelling evidence to suggest the unmarked site in western Nova Scotia is the final resting place for Acadian settlers buried near a fort as early as the 1680s.
The radar images, gathered one day last month at the Fort Anne National Historic Site in Annapolis Royal, show neat rows of 19 ghostly green and red shapes.
鈥淲ith respect to Acadian history, this was 鈥� and (nearby) Port Royal is 鈥� the cradle of Acadian civilization,鈥� says Beanlands, senior archeologist at Halifax-based Boreas Heritage Consulting.
鈥淢any of the Acadians today who can trace their ancestry back to Port Royal, their ancestors will be buried somewhere in that Acadian cemetery.鈥�
Originally built by the Scots as early as 1629, Fort Anne was later taken over by the French, before it fell to British troops in 1710.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the most contested landscapes in this part of the world,鈥� Beanlands says. 鈥淧eople have been drawn to this area for thousands of years 鈥� This was home for the Mik鈥檓aq long before any European explorers.鈥�
She says the underground anomalies picked by the ground-penetrating radar 鈥� a device that looks like an electric lawn mower 鈥� could be an extension of a nearby British cemetery.
The well-known Garrison Graveyard has 230 headstones that date back to 1720.
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At the turn of the 17th century, the Acadians used wooden grave markers, which have long since rotted away.
However, church records and maps from the early 1700s indicate an Acadian cemetery was also located outside the walls of the star-shaped fort, a reconstructed fortification that became Canada鈥檚 first administered national historic site in 1917.
Beanlands鈥� research included the use of aerial drones and Lidar 鈥� short for Light Detection and Ranging 鈥� to produce an extremely accurate picture of the site鈥檚 contours.
The radar was used to produce a three-dimensional cross-section of the plot, which is about 10 metres by 18 metres and extends three metres underground.
鈥淔or the first time, we have been able to take this technology 鈥� into Fort Anne and see through a new set of eyes in a way that is completely non-destructive,鈥� Beanlands says. 鈥淚t gives us the ability to see things we have never been able to see before.鈥�
Though the glowing anomalies don鈥檛 show much, their arrangement is unmistakable. At a depth of one metre, the irregular shapes appear at regular intervals 鈥� and they are aligned along a north-south axis that is in line with the British graves.
鈥淲e鈥檙e familiar with what burials look like in the data,鈥� says Beanlands. 鈥淭he most compelling evidence is 鈥� the patterning of the anomalies.鈥�
However, the only way to confirm the presence of graves would be to conduct an expensive and time-consuming archeological dig. But that鈥檚 not going to happen, Beanlands says.
鈥淪o we could never know 鈥� we could never say with absolute certainty,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hat we need is more data.鈥�
An expanded search could start as early as next month, with help from Parks Canada, the Nova Scotia Community College鈥檚 Applied Geomatics Research Group and Mapannapolis, a volunteer organization that creates web-based maps of heritage sites.
鈥� By Michael MacDonald in Halifax
The Canadian Press
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