Archaeologists have found what they believe are the 5,000-year-old remains of two American Indians at a southern Jefferson County site (Kentucky, USA) planned for development. Bone fragments were unearthed last week during an archaeological survey of a 55-acre site near Interstate 65 and Outer Loop slated for a Wal-Mart, restaurants and condominiums. Spear tips and burned rock were found several years earlier at the site, officials said. The remains, accompanied by trash pits, charcoal, carbonized seeds and tools, suggest a camp used by nomadic hunters who might have gathered medicinal herbs and food in the wetland area around 3000 BCE, said David Pollack, a Kentucky Heritage Council archaeologist and site-protection manager.
     Archaeologists hired by developer Hagan Properties are still working to determine the scope and significance of the find -- and if more remains exist beyond a one- to two-acre section. Pollack said state officials might ask the developer to preserve the burial area. If that can't be done, he said, the remains likely will be moved in consultation with tribes such as the Shawnee and Cherokee. Such finds rarely halt building projects, he said. Construction hasn't begun, but security guards have been posted at the site to keep out trespassers.
     Artifacts such as pottery shards, spear tips or stone tools 1,000 to 6,000 years old are common in the Louisville area, where a large population of Indians once lived, said Jay Stottman, an archaeologist with the Kentucky Archaeological Survey.

Source: The Courier-Journal (20 April 2005)