Identifying the Great Synagogue of Vilna in Vilnius, Lithuania

Abstract

Since 1957, the remains of the Great Synagogue of Vilna in Vilnius, Lithuania have been hidden under an elementary school. An international team of scientists used ground penetrating radar (GPR) to identify the buried remains of the synagogue and then excavate the most promising locations. GPR is a non-invasive survey technology which sends electromagnetic waves into the subsurface and records the reflected waves. A pulseEKKO 1000 GPR unit with 225 MHz antennae was utilized to collect grid datasets. The presentation will focus on two grids, #7 (32 x 5 m) and #8 (33 x 5 m), in which transects with a step size of 0.05 m were collected 0.25 m apart. Following data analysis, Grid #7 has a linear feature which is interpreted as a pipe above the synagogue’s destruction layer as well as a several proposed archaeological features in the eastern corner. Grid #8 has a variety of anomalies located throughout the grid. The research results will aid in directing future archaeological work at the former site of the Great Synagogue of Vilna.