Unearthed bones likely from 1800s

More answers about human remains found during Urbanna pool excavation will take  additional time to uncover

by Larry Chowning – 

The bones and wooden casket of an adult size individual unearthed in July by a swimming pool installation company have been exhumed and determined are “likely” from someone who lived in the mid to late-19th century (1800s).

Further study will be conducted to determine gender and other facts surrounding the bones, said Dave Brown, a co-director of the Fairfield Foundation. Archeologists removed the bones under a permit from the State Department of Historical Resources and a coroner’s report is in the process of being conducted which may shed more light on the origin of the bones, said Brown.

The location of where the bones were found is believed to have been where a backyard “Palmer Family” graveyard was once located. Although it was believed all bodies in the Palmer plot had been exhumed and moved to Christ Church Cemetery, one may have not made the transition.

Palmer family lore has the bodies of Alfred and Sophronia Sadler Palmer exhumed from the family cemetery in the early 1930s and removed to Christ Church Cemetery.

Archeological dig

During further excavation, pool workers in August hit a trench of archeological material ranging in age from the 17th century to the early 19th century. The most interesting materials found last week by Fairfield archeologist were colonoware pottery unlike any Brown has seen in the region.

“The pottery appears to have been made with the soil right near where it was found,” he said. “Usually, when we find earthenware it’s ingredients that came from elsewhere.”

The making of this “sophisticated” locally made form of pottery…