AT LEAST 50 historic unmarked graves have been discovered at the Creswick Cemetery during a recent high-tech search of the grounds.The latest technology was used to find the gold rush era graves, believed to belong to Chinese and European miners.Dozens more are expected to be found when a Melbourne team of geophysicists resume their search later this year.The project, funded by a $12,400 Department of Health cemetery maintenance grant, will enable the Creswick Cemetery Trust to plan for future development, as well as provide a proper memorial for those in the unmarked graves.Ground-penetrating radar and magnetometry technology has been used by the team from Hunter Geophysics during the recent search of a 50 metre by 50 metre section of the cemetery.Director of the Melbourne-based geophysics team, David Hunter, said such surveys were rare in Australia, despite impressive results in the UK, Europe and the US.“We are confident that we will locate several hundred historic graves, of mainly Chinese heritage, before the end of the year,” Mr Hunter said.A preliminary report will be prepared by Mr Hunter for the Creswick Cemetery Trust, based on the data that was collected. This is expect to be completed in a fortnight. A final report will be provided to the trust following completion of the survey in November.The survey also discovered the remains of an old well associated with a house used by cemetery sextons. The home was demolished on site in the 1970s, almost 20 years after the last sexton left the cemetery.Creswick Cemetery Trust secretary and groundskeeper Wendy Ohlsen believes there could be about 400 bodies in unmarked graves in the original pauper section of the cemetery.“In those days there were many multiple burials, for which there are no records,” Ms Ohlsen said.Once all the unmarked graves are located, Ms Ohlsen said the Creswick Cemetery Trust would be able to plan for lawn grave development. She said the trust also planned to establish a Chinese memorial garden and plaques to complement the monuments established near the site by the Chinese community in Melbourne.“The Chinese made a huge impact on goldfields towns, including Creswick, where there was a population of about 4000 in a shanty town at what is now Calambeen Park,” Ms Ohlsen said.