Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 23, 1995 TAG: 9508230018
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The unmarked burial ground, on the grounds of the Kingsmill resort on the James River, is estimated to be between 200 and 300 years old. The skeletons lie near the banks of the river and are threatened by continued erosion.
Once the permit is approved, the remains will be excavated by archaeologists from the James River Institute for Archaeology in Williamsburg.
Institute archaeologists contacted last month refused to discuss the site without permission from officials at Busch Properties - which owns Kingsmill on the James. But a woman reached in the institute's office said the skeletons are thought to be connected with remains of old slave quarters found nearby.
``We're pretty sure it's part of some kind of tenant community - maybe indentured servants, but more likely slaves,'' she said. ``It's exciting, because it's unusual in this region to find an African-American burial ground.''
Nick Luccketti, an archaeologist at the James River Institute, said there have been ``a number'' of slave quarters discovered on the Kingsmill property and in the Williamsburg area in recent years.
Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of slave houses, trash pits and household objects - such as tools and eating utensils - ``handed down to slaves from their owners,'' he said.
Slave burial grounds, however, are less common.
Whenever human remains are found at a dig site, archaeologists must apply for a special permit from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources to remove them for study, Luccketti said.
After a permit is obtained, the remains are examined by a specialist. In most cases, they later are reburied.
If the institute's application is approved by the Department of Historic Resources, skeletal remains from the Kingsmill site will be analyzed by a scientist from the Smithsonian Institution.
by CNB