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Beach skeleton either pre-Columbian or slave ~ Second skeleton destroyed ~
by The Daily Herald
Posted: Apr 21, 2006 14:50 UTC
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OYSTER BAY - Piecing together the life and death of the person whose skeleton was found on Oyster Bay Beach will only be based on assumptions, as it either dates to pre-Columbian times or is the remains of a slave. Bits of bone from another skeleton were also recovered from the sand pile.
The adult male skeleton, discovered on Wednesday during excavations for the pool of Coral Beach, was carefully removed by archaeologist Jay Haviser Thursday and taken to St. Maarten Archaeological Centre Simarc for tests and dating. Fragments of the second skeleton were also collected for examination.
“It is at least a couple of hundred years old, as it was found in the deepest layer of the beach. This was definitely not a modern situation,” Haviser said. “The bones are in quite good condition and are well preserved.”
Only some whelk shells were found close to the skeleton. There were no remains of a coffin or even buttons to suggest the presence of clothing. The site does not appear to be a major burial site, thus has not much significance, so construction work is allowed to continue, he added.
The police were summoned to the scene Wednesday after a backhoe unearthed the skeleton. On examination, the skeleton was determined by the forensic team to be old and Haviser was called in to survey the site.
Haviser will compile a report on the skeleton finding, information gathered from the bones and location for the police. This should be completed this weekend.
Some sixteen skeletons were uncovered during excavations for the Professional Office Park at the Head of Town in February 2004. Haviser dated the gravesite of possibly slaves or freed slaves as the late 19th century. Some skeletons and artefacts were recovered from the site and stored for future research and display.
Another skeleton was uncovered at a construction site on Back Street several months later. (Alita Singh
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