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Fuerstenbergspr19.Pdf Ground Penetrating Radar Examinations of a Ritual Bathhouse in Ponedel, Lithuania FUERSTENBERG, Madeline M.₁, JOL, Harry M.₂, BECK, Joseph D.₂, SCHNEIDER, Samual G.₂, KOFMAN, Chloe C.₃, FREUND, Richard A.₄, REEDER, Philip P.₅, KUJELIS, Giedrius₆ (1) De- partment of Communications and Journalism, University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, (2) Department of Anthropology and Geography, University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire,(3) Department of Liberal Studies, University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, (4) Maurice Greenberg Center of Judaic Studies, University of Hartford, (5) Bayer School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Duquesne University, (6) History Department of Rokiškis Regional Museum ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION Based on eyewitness and historical re- Prior to World War II, parts of Lithuania served as prominent centers for Jewish culture. The Lithuanian Jewish population reached about ports, the decimated remains of an old 160,000 – about seven percent of Lithuania’s total population (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2019). During the summer of 1941, Jewish bathhouse and mikveh, or ritual Germany invaded the territories of the Soviet Union, which had absorbed Lithuania in 1940. With Germany’s newly-established occupation of bath, are believed to be buried in the back- Lithuania came three years of genocide and cultural degradation by the Nazis; a continuation of the prejudicial actions of the non-Jewish Lithua- yard of a home in Ponedel, Lithuania (Fig- nian militiamen who came before (Freund, 2018). By the end of the summer of 1941, when most of the killing was carried out, many of the Jewish ure 1). Using ground penetrating radar Lithuanians living in rural areas had been executed. By November of that same year, the Germans had murdered most of the Jewish people who (GPR), we examined the site during the had been forced into the ghettos of the larger cities. During the German occupation, Lithuania had suffered one of the highest Jewish genocide summer of 2018 in order to determine the rates in all of Europe (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2019). Synagogues and other structures of Jewish cultural significance had validity of these claims, map out any po- been destroyed, vandalized, and decimated all around the country; including the famous Great Synagogue of Vilna, hundreds of Jewish cemeter- tential structures, and determine whether ies, and ritual bathhouses. The objective of this research is to determine the exact position and layout of a culturally-significant structure, known or not any further archaeological action is as a mikveh, within one of these bathhouses located in the small community of Ponedel. Ponedel is located in Northeastern Lithuania, and held a justified. During World War II, the Nazis small population of 611 Jewish Lithuanians in 1923, according to the most recent records (JewishGen, 2019). This structure is called a mikveh, a and non-Jewish Lithuanian militiamen constructed pool or bath of natural water in which people can be submerged in order to purify themselves after becoming ritually unclean, ac- murdered about 90 percent of Lithuanian cording to the Jewish faith (Freund, 2019). A way in which someone might become unclean is through coming into direct contact with human re- Jews in a span of about three years (United mains (Freund, 2019). Though the mikveh has been lost to time and buried, a hand-drawn map from 1934 indicates the structure’s former loca- States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2019). tion (Figure 2). Today, stone sections of the structure can be seen sticking out of the sides of a large mound located in the backyard of a modern Thousands of Jewish cultural structures Ponedel home. Figure 2: A hand-drawn map of the were destroyed all around the country. Re- site location; “Susmania,” 1934 search such as this allows for Lithuanian Jews to reclaim some of their lost history and locate potential locations for memorial- ization. RESULTS METHODS Upon examination of the processed datasets collected at Using a Sensors and Software the mikveh site in Ponedel, abnormalities in the stratigraphy pulseEKKO GPR Pro system with 500 are visible at about 1 meter in depth (Figure 5). Abnormali- MHz antennae, a roughly-14 m x 13 ties are indications of the presence of something that does m grid was collected across the hill not match the natural soil composition surrounding it. The covering the Ponedel mikveh (Fig- long, thin, angular shape, size, and locations of these ob- ures 3 and 4). Fifty-three parallel lines structions indicate the presence of wall foundations, rectan- were collected at 0.25 meter line sepa- gular in shape. These foundations are about two meters ration. Fifty-two of the lines are thick. These anomalies span across a majority of the grid, in- shorter than 14 meters as a result of dicating a length of about 14 meters along the Y-axis, and a obstructive vegetation or other physi- width of about 11 meters along the X-axis. While the pres- cal impediments. A large fire pit sat ence of this mikveh is confirmed, the site does not provide atop the hill, reaching a diameter of researchers with enough archaeological substance for a com- Figure 5: Collected datasets from about 4 meters. Stones and metal plete excavation to be recommended. With the data gathered the Ponedel mikveh were processed piping were exposed along one side by our team in Ponedel, the site may now be recognized or via EKKO_Project Sliceview by of the pit. Topographic measure- memorialized by the Lithuanian government or Ponedel Joseph Beck. The above rendering is ments of the site were collected using community and the property owner. This memorialization at one meter in depth. The red lines aTopcon RL-H4C laser leveling might be accomplished through the installation of a physical indicate the locations of subsurface system. Cartographic mapping of the marker, or established protection of the site as a whole. anomalies. location was conducted by Dr. Phil Reeder, of Dusquesne University, through the usage of a Total Station. Line arrangements, data processing, Figure 3: Using Sensors and Software’s ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS and three-dimensional rendering of pulseEKKO GPR system, students col- Student Blugold Commitment funds through the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Stu- the collected GPR datasets was com- lected 53 lines of data accross the hill- dent-Faculty International Fellows Program for Research, Service, and Creative Activity aided pleted via GFP Edit, EKKO_Project top that covers the mikveh. in the cost of the trip. I would like to thank Dr. Richard Freund, of the University of Hartford, Sliceview, and Voxler, respectively. Connecticut, and Dr. Philip Reeder, of Duquesne University, New Jersey for the guidance and encouragement. For our in-country partnership, I would like to thank the Rokiškis Regional Museum and Giedrius Kujelis for allowing me to learn about and partake in the Lithuanian cul- Figure 1: A site map of the Ponedel Mikveh location, ture.. Poster services were provided by University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Learning and Tech- indicated by the red box nology Services. Finally, I would like to thank Harry Jol for the incredible experience and guid- ance over this past year. For this research, we collected datasets using a pulseEKKO GPR system with 500 MHz antennae. Fifty-three GPR lines were REFERENCES shot in parallels with quarter-meter spac- Figure 4: Of the 53 Freund, Richard, Director of Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies and Professor of Jewish History. Personal Communication, June 2018 through March 2019. ing. The collected datasets were then ana- GPR lines shot at the Ponedel mikveh, line JewishGen, 2019. Pandėlys, Lithuania: lyzed using GFP Edit, and EKKO_Project https://www.jewishgen.org/communities/community.php?usbgn=-2617615 software. Partial subsurface anomalies are legnths along the Y-axis ranged from 4 Jol, H.M., and Bristow, C.S., 2003, GPR in sediments: advice on data collection, basic processing visible within the natural stratigraphy. to 13 meters. Lines and interpretation, a good practice guide, in Jol, H.M., and Bristow, C.S., eds., Ground These anomalies signify the presence of an Penetrating Radar in Sediments: London, Geological Society, Special Publication 211, p. 9- were not shot along 27. obstruction that does not match the soil the X-axis. Line grid Sensors and Software, 2015. EKKO_Project GPR Software Processing and Display: around it in composition. However, further rendering created by http://www.sensoft.ca/Products/Software/Details-Features.aspx. exploration is necessary before excavation Joseph Beck via GFP can be recommended. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2019. Holocaust Encyclopedia: Lithuania: Edit. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/lithuania.
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