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Mon, 24 Mar 1997 09:15:35 -0500 |
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At 10:40 PM 3/17/97 -0800, you wrote:
>
>Jay, whether you need an archaeologist to excavate a cemetery depends on
>which state you live in. In Kentucky, state law only requires a funeral
>director to be involved. Some local governments ask for an
>archaeological assessment first, but they are few and far between.
>
>Ohio's law is apparently much more ambiguous, but does not mention
>archaeology. The OHPO has recently informed me that they do not
>generally take jurisdiction over historical cemeteries.
Jeannine, this is correct for Ohio. The instigation for my previous queries
about initialed footstones and coffin faceplates resulted from a Columbus
lawyer taking a backhoe to an abandoned cemetery (latest grave, 1878). I
had done the Phase I survey and recommended that the developer avoid the
site. Instead, they hired a lawyer whose credentials consisted primarily of
having compiled a booklet on Ohio cemetery law. Six months after the
"removal," I happened to visit the site and found dozens of human bones
strewn over the surface-- humeri, vertebrae, ribs, tibiae, skull and pelvis
fragments-- you name it. The Ohio SHPO cited the fact that the Historic
Preservation Act excepts historic cemeteries as their reason ("excuse") for
not getting involved.
I finally contacted the judge who had agreed to the attorney's request to
remove the burials and asked him to appoint someone to finish the job. The
remaining grave was removed last week (the initials on the footstone faced
out). The burial was a good six feet deep, in a gravel esker, and I don't
think probing would have located it-- no grave outline, either.
Jim Murphy
[log in to unmask]
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