Geophysical Investigation to Locate Buried Structures at the Site of an 18thCentury House

In 2005 Hager GeoScience, Inc. (HGI) conducted a geophysical investigation at the site of a 1703 house outside Boston, Massachusetts. The structure, one of the oldest surviving First Period houses in the United States, is located on a ¾-acre former colonial farm property that reportedly included several outbuildings, including at least one timber-framed barn. HGI performed the investigation using a GSSI GEM-300 multifrequency terrain conductivity profiler and SIR-3000 GPR system with 400-MHz antenna. The survey located a primary target near the reported location of a former timber-framed barn, as well as a less well-defined target elsewhere on the site. Excavation of the primary target revealed an unmortared fieldstone foundation wall and a trash pit extending from just below the ground surface to the cemented till floor of the structure. The less well-defined target proved to be a natural feature consisting of bouldery till beneath outwash sands and gravels.