Page 6 - Jeff Moates News Today

Listen • 1:00 1 of 4  — During excavation of the former North Greenwood cemetery site in Clearwater, archaeologists discovered 29 grave shafts, as well as artifacts like this grave marker. 2 of 4  — North Greenwood Cemetery grave marker 3 of 4  — 1942 dime found during excavation 4 of 4  — Intact grave marker Archeologists looking at a former Clearwater cemete...

/ Engineers and USF archaeologists dig up the grounds of what used to be Clearwaters North Greenwood Cemetery to see if any unmarked graves are still there. Archaeologists are searching for potential unmarked graves on a site in Clearwater. After the discovery of Zion Cemetery in Tampa in 2019, the search to find additional forgotten Black cemeteries around the region began. African Americans who grew up in Clearwater often heard stories about unmarked graves that were left behind after a numbe...

They will do it through mechanical excavation, with a backhoe operator, to open up the ground.  Officials will then use hand tools for the detailed excavation.  "It’s (a) controlled excavation,” said Jeff Moates, the Florida Public Archaeology Network Regional Director. “So there are a number of archaeologists watching over the work of the backhoe operator.  “And whenever we see anything that could possibly be an artifact that pops up after the scraping occurs, we have them slow down...