Anthropology Department Honored by Local Official

St. Lawrence University students and two professors were honored by local officials on January 15. 

Heuvelton Mayor and Village Board Members acknowledged Associate Professor Mindy Pitre, of the anthropology department, Professor J. Ansil Ramsay of the public health department, and more than twenty students who helped excavate at a dig site only a few miles from campus.

While installing a part of a new water tower in October of 2019, construction workers uncovered human remains. 

According to NNY360.com, the workers contacted the St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department before continuing any work. There were also wooden coffin remains found. 

Pitre was called by the village as a bioarchaeological consultant to excavate and analyze any remains found. She told St. Lawrence University News she invited students who had been in her classes and had backgrounds in human osteology. 

Pitre also told University News the project gives students the chance to support the local community. 

The St. Lawrence Team uncovered the remains of several people and coffin pieces such as nails, screws, and hinges. Excavation work in New York State must follow Historic Preservation protocols and use respect when handling the remains.

Shelby Little ’20 is an anthropology major who worked at the site. She was invited by Petri due to her interest in the subject.and experience at a bioarchaeology field school this past summer. “I was able to help in the field excavate some of the burials,” she said. “This was a great opportunity for me to use the skills are learning this summer, so close to campus.”

Little used her experience for her Senior Year Experience with another student. “I will be examining the skeletal remains and assist in writing the concluding report,” she said. 

Little found being honored by Heuvelton officials to be an amazing experience. “”It really showed how important this project was to them,” she said. 

After graduating this spring, Little plans to get her Masters in anthropology. She hopes to work in the collections department of a museum.

The site of the water tower had been the village of Huevlton’s first cemetery but was thought to have been all cleared out, according to St. Lawrence University News. It’s burials were reported to have all been moved to the nearby Hillcrest Cemetery at the end of the 1800s. 

NNY360 reported that there have been two archaeological surveys of the water tower site in recent years as part of the funding process. 

Since the graves were unmarked, there was no way to identify any remains. There was no investigation by the St. Lawrence County’s Sheriff’s Department.