Friday, October 12, 2007
Poltergeist. Tucson, like many communities, has built over its historic cemeteries. There are three in the downtown area, dating between 1776 and 1909. One is beneath a street, another is currently being excavated for a new courthouse, and a third is in a residential neighborhood.
An acquaintance of mine lives in that neighborhood, which was the cemetery for Tucson between 1875 and 1909. Some businessmen decided the land was too close to town and should be developed, so they built a new cemetery further away from downtown, and arranged to get ownership of the land. They claimed the bodies were all moved, but since the 1940s a dozen have been found. My guess, perhaps 10 percent of the burials were actually dug up, and it is probable that only the skull and the larger bones were removed. I told my friend that his property probably had many burials (it is in the Catholic section, which had about 4,500). Last week a sinkhole opened up and when he poked a shovel in, he hit a coffin and some bones.
Lucky for him, it was actually in the city right-of-way, and he wasn't lagally responsible for their removal (they had to be moved because the right-of-way is where all utilities are placed). I went out with two other archaeologists and excavated the burial. It was a 3-or-4-year-old child, in a shouldered coffin (the kind that is wider at the shoulders). The coffin was decorated with diamond-shaped brass appliques, with a crucifix and lamb applique on the front (lambs symbolize children), zinc carrying handles, and a cross-shaped handle to lift the lid up and some rusted iron items that are probably hinges. The child was wearing a dress that was buttoned up the back, and a bundle of clothes were next to the feet (the buttons of which were all that was left)- perhaps the clothing of the child, or perhaps something added to kept the body from sliding down to that end of the coffin when it was being moved.
We finished around 1 PM and as I was cleaning the last remnants of the coffin wood up I noticed the ground was soft, so I removed some more dirt and another skull appeared below. On Monday we will remove that burial.
After we examine the remains and artifacts the two burials will be reburied in the local Catholic cemetery in a special vault with other remains found by archaeologists.
This isn't a typical work day for me.
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An acquaintance of mine lives in that neighborhood, which was the cemetery for Tucson between 1875 and 1909. Some businessmen decided the land was too close to town and should be developed, so they built a new cemetery further away from downtown, and arranged to get ownership of the land. They claimed the bodies were all moved, but since the 1940s a dozen have been found. My guess, perhaps 10 percent of the burials were actually dug up, and it is probable that only the skull and the larger bones were removed. I told my friend that his property probably had many burials (it is in the Catholic section, which had about 4,500). Last week a sinkhole opened up and when he poked a shovel in, he hit a coffin and some bones.
Lucky for him, it was actually in the city right-of-way, and he wasn't lagally responsible for their removal (they had to be moved because the right-of-way is where all utilities are placed). I went out with two other archaeologists and excavated the burial. It was a 3-or-4-year-old child, in a shouldered coffin (the kind that is wider at the shoulders). The coffin was decorated with diamond-shaped brass appliques, with a crucifix and lamb applique on the front (lambs symbolize children), zinc carrying handles, and a cross-shaped handle to lift the lid up and some rusted iron items that are probably hinges. The child was wearing a dress that was buttoned up the back, and a bundle of clothes were next to the feet (the buttons of which were all that was left)- perhaps the clothing of the child, or perhaps something added to kept the body from sliding down to that end of the coffin when it was being moved.
We finished around 1 PM and as I was cleaning the last remnants of the coffin wood up I noticed the ground was soft, so I removed some more dirt and another skull appeared below. On Monday we will remove that burial.
After we examine the remains and artifacts the two burials will be reburied in the local Catholic cemetery in a special vault with other remains found by archaeologists.
This isn't a typical work day for me.
