University of Georgia to reinter remains of individuals found on construction site | Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

The University of Georgia will reinter the remains of individuals found on a construction site.

According to a report on the school’s website, following the guidance of the State Archaeologist's Office, this spring, UGA will reinter the remains of individuals discovered during the construction of the Baldwin Hall expansion. The reburial will take place in Oconee Hill Cemetery and will be commemorated with a ceremony on Monday, March 20.

The report says 105 gravesites were identified. The remains were discovered in November 2015 during work on the expansion of Baldwin Hall, an academic building adjacent to the Old Athens Cemetery, which operated as a public cemetery throughout the 19th century. Between November 2015 and February 2016, archaeologists from Southeastern Archaeological Services Inc. and bioarchaeologists with the UGA Department of Anthropology worked to exhume the remains of individuals found in the gravesite.

Samples from 30 of the remains were sufficient to permit DNA analysis. While early onsite examination led archaeologists initially to think that the individuals were most likely of European descent, the DNA results revealed that the vast majority of the remains sufficient for analysis were of African-Americans.

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Baldwin Hall houses the School of Public and International Affairs as well as the departments of sociology and anthropology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.