Ms. Daphne Battle

Archaeologist Daphne Battle, president of Cypress Cultural Consultants, and engineer Michael Benton examine a radar image April 24 of Coffin Point Community Cemetery during a survey of the St. Helena Island site.

Daphne Owens Battle, MS, RPA, WBE Cypress Cultural Consultants, LLC4028 Shell Point RoadBeaufort, SC 29906Phone: (843) 986-0706
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Contact: Daphne Owens Battle, MS, RPA, WBEEmail: cypresscultural@islc.net * Website: www.islc.net/~cypresscultural

While it's doubtful that all the depressions will turn out to be graves, at least some of them most likely will, said Daphne Owens Battle, archaeologist and president of Cypress Cultural Consultants.

The Beaufort-based company will return to the site in a few weeks to take ground scrapings of the possible graves.

Depressions often mark old grave sites because the soil put back to refill the hole never is as dense as it was before the digging, Battle said.Along with the depressions themselves, the way they are placed in neat, parallel lines is another sign the property might have been a cemetery.

"A lot of them are on an east-to-west layout," she said, "which is very common in Christian-based culture."

Since many Christians believe Jesus Christ will come from the east when he returns for the second coming, many cemeteries, especially older ones, lay out graves east to west, so when the dead rise they will be facing Christ, Battle said.

The cinder block enclosure, which Gray called a private, family plot, sits on National Street just a few feet from the brick wall lining the rear of the current cemetery.One edge of the plot borders National Street and was the only portion of the small cemetery visible before the property was cleared, Battle said.

"It was horrible," she said of the property's mess, adding that the company had to remove brush, bottles, cans, appliances and car parts to clear the lot.

While it's doubtful that all the depressions will turn out to be graves, at least some of them most likely will, said Daphne Owens Battle, archaeologist and president of Cypress Cultural Consultants.

The Beaufort-based company will return to the site in a few weeks to take ground scrapings of the possible graves.

Depressions often mark old grave sites because the soil put back to refill the hole is never as dense as it was before the digging, Battle said.If digging out and refilling a grave is the cause of the depressions behind the cemetery, the soil below the surface will be more homogeneous than usual, because dirt from different layers of the ground was mixed together during the digging.

Along with the depressions themselves, the way they are placed in neat, parallel lines is another sign that the property might once have been a cemetery, Battle said.

"A lot of them are on an east to west layout, which is very common in Christian-based culture," she said.

Since many Christians believe Jesus Christ will come from the east when he returns for the second coming, many cemeteries, especially older ones, lay out graves east to west, so when the dead rise they will be facing Christ, Battle said.

The cinder block enclosure, which Gray called a private, family plot, sits on National Street just a few feet from the brick wall lining the rear of the current cemetery.

One edge of the plot borders National Street and was the only portion of the small cemetery visible before the property was cleared, Battle said.

"It was horrible," she said of the property's mess, adding that in addition to the weeds and brush the company had to remove bottles, cans, appliances and car parts.

Daphne Owens Battle, archaeologist and president of Cypress Cultural Consultants, says her group has identified a small 30-meter by 100-meter section in the wooded land as the largest possible area to contain unmarked graves.
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But many of these sites that Battle's group delicately uncovered were composed of nothing more then burnt tree stumps and "modern trash."

With the presence of the old National Guard armory nearby, Battle thinks some of the physically depressed spots were collapsed foxholes dug by training soldiers.

"Up to the time of the Civil War, it is estimated that there were over 8,000 tanneries in existence in the United States, and yet we know little about them," said Daphne Owens Battle, an archaeologist with Cypress Cultural Consultants, the Beaufort, S.C., firm that is overseeing the excavation.