GPR radar for archeology

Finding historic artifacts hidden underground can be a real challenge—often time-consuming, labor-intensive, and expensive. To narrow their research focus and pinpoint potential excavation sites, archaeologists need technologies that can non-invasively investigate historic locations and reveal what lies beneath the surface.

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is one of the most effective, non-invasive, and non-destructive technologies used worldwide in archaeological studies to visualize and map historical sites. Thanks to GPR systems equipped with a 250 MHz antenna and 3D scanning capabilities, it’s possible to achieve excellent depth penetration and high resolution—leading many specialists to call it the “best GPR on the market” or simply a “GPR locator.”

Archaeological Tools

Archaeologists rely on a range of instruments and methods to investigate historical sites, including:

• Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)
• Electrical Resistance
• Electromagnetic Conductivity
• Magnetometers
• LIDAR
• Metal Detectors

It’s recommended to use multiple non-destructive geophysical techniques to gather reliable data and develop a more complete understanding of a site. As part of this “toolkit,” GPR offers the following advantages:

1. High resolution – enables detailed and precise mapping.
2. Detects both metallic and non-metallic objects – identifies various targets and disturbances in the soil.
3. Clearly indicates the depth of buried objects.
4. 3D scanning – creates 3D models of the subsurface before a shovel ever touches the ground.

GPR surveys provide primary data useful for identifying promising excavation locations or recognizing sensitive areas (such as burial sites), helping to preserve valuable cultural and historical heritage.

Benefits of Using GPR in Archaeology

• Efficient Excavation Planning: GPR data help target the areas most likely to yield archaeological finds.
• Contextual Clarity: 3D visualization and radar maps offer insights into subsurface structures before any digging begins.
• Site Preservation: GPR often avoids invasive methods, protecting the site while searching for evidence of historical structures and artifacts.

Finding Unmarked Graves and Mapping Cemeteries

Cemetery Survey, USA
A NOGGIN® 500 GPR system was used in a cemetery to locate burials. The data were collected in a 20 × 20 m grid with 0.25 m line spacing. Since the orientation of the graves was known from headstones, the profiles were collected in only one direction, crossing the graves perpendicularly. Targets appear at various depths between 30 cm and 50 cm.
Data courtesy of Jarrod Burks, Ohio Valley Archaeology, Inc.

Unmarked Graves, USA
A NOGGIN® 250 GPR was used to locate unmarked burials in an African-American cemetery. Depth slices reveal the lateral extent and estimate the number of burials on site.
Data courtesy of Mark Howard, NAEVA Geophysics

3D Visualization of Graves and Burials

Tuscaloosa Cemetery, USA
3D imaging of burials in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, collected with a NOGGIN® 250 GPR. The coffins exhibit higher reflectivity than the surrounding soil, making them easy to highlight in a 3D model—displayed as solid-color objects while weaker soil reflections remain translucent or invisible.

Viking Grave, Norway
This project aimed to map an area suspected of containing a Viking settlement. A 50×50 m grid was surveyed using a NOGGIN® 500 system. The depth-slice animation shows a circular anomaly interpreted as a Viking grave.
Data courtesy of Lars Winroth, Modern Arkeologi

Subsurface Historic Buildings, Ancient Ruins, Structures & Settlements

Roman Fortress Structures in Carnuntum, Austria
Carnuntum was a Roman legionary fortress and provincial capital with a population of about 50,000 people. A NOGGIN® 500 SmartCart was used to perform a 3D survey over an area of 160 × 250 m, with 0.5 m line spacing, without disturbing the site. The depth-slice animation (from 0.0 m to 3.0 m at 0.1 m intervals) reveals buried foundations, walls, and other details of a subterranean building.
Data courtesy of Archaeo Prospections

Roman Military Camp, Romania
A project in Romania used NOGGIN® 500 SmartTow to map the internal layout of a Roman castrum (military camp). Multiple grids were collected and later merged into one large data set for processing in EKKO_Project™ software. The animation shows depth slices from 0 to 2 m at 0.1 m intervals, revealing the camp’s interior configuration and several phases of construction.
Data courtesy of Andre Gonciar, Bioarch Canada

Brickworks Building Foundations, USA
Archaeology students used a NOGGIN® 500 GPR to search for evidence of demolished structures at a historic brickworks site. Several grids were collected and combined, with the resulting depth slices superimposed on Google Earth™. The data revealed 18th-century building foundations.
Data courtesy of Jarrod Burks, Ohio Valley Archaeology, Inc.

Military History

The Lost Squadron, Greenland
A pulseEKKO® 50 MHz GPR was used to search for a squadron of WWII planes forced to land in Greenland. In 1992, fifty years after they were lost, GPR line surveys successfully located one of the aircraft at a depth of 85 m below the ice surface.
After a long, labor-intensive excavation, the remarkably well-preserved plane—nicknamed “Glacier Girl”—was retrieved from the ice.

Lost Cannons of West Point, USA
For 25 years, geophysics students at the West Point Military Academy have used pulseEKKO® 1000 and LMX200 systems to gradually map the campus. One of their objectives was to locate a buried cannon battery, entombed in place during the 1930s under a parade field. They believe they have found it (marked with a black circle), although excavation has not yet confirmed the interpretation.

Conclusion

Modern GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) systems with a 250 MHz antenna provide excellent depth penetration and 3D scanning of subsurface structures. For archaeologists, this means a non-destructive technique that saves time and effort, aids in optimal excavation planning, and helps preserve cultural heritage. Whether it’s locating unmarked graves, mapping ancient settlements, uncovering military-historical sites, or surveying Roman fortresses, the best GPR on the market can be the key to successful excavations and priceless scientific discoveries.

If you’re looking for a GPR locator offering high precision and reliability, our systems are the perfect choice. Contact us to learn more about our GPR solutions for archaeology, 3D scanning, and in-depth subsurface investigation. Help science uncover the secrets of the past—without damaging the historical legacy!