Working with Burials
Brockington and Associates must sometimes work with human burials, and we carry out these necessary tasks with appropriate respect and concern. For federal agencies on their managed lands, we work closely with Indian tribes following the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). We have developed NAGRPA Plans of Action so that quick decisions can be made when graves are accidentally found during construction or after a natural event. Much of the work required by NAGPRA involves advance planning.
Federal Projects
Under NAGPRA, federal governmental agencies, most universities, and other groups receiving federal funding that hold Native American remains and grave goods must inventory, document, and report this information. Brockington staff has completed inventories for the Mobile District, United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE); CSS Panama City (US Navy); and Savannah District, USACE.
We have assisted the U.S. Army at Fort Benning in their development of a re-interment center for Native American remains found in mission-critical areas of the installation. Our work for CSS Panama City included preparation and posting of a Notice of Inventory Completion, direct consultation with 14 Native American tribes, and an agreement for repatriation. In 2004, our staff helped select and prepare a reburial area, facilitated actual repatriation, and assisted reburial of remains from over 150 individuals, along with related grave goods, at this secure location. We have also developed, in consultation with appropriate tribes and agencies, re-interment areas for our private developer clients.
We have carried out major NAGPRA work for the Mobile District, USACE, where we have completed documentation of over 300 graves and related grave goods from 15 large dam and reservoir areas. We have assisted Mobile District's NAGPRA planning for several years, introducing District specialists to tribal staff and leaders through direct visits and telephone conferences. We helped organize and facilitate Mobile District's two major district-wide consultation meetings with Native American tribal representatives involving over 20 tribes, and we helped draft NAGPRA MOUs and Plans of Action. Currently, we are preparing for the District several Notices of Inventory Completion for posting by the National Park Service. We expect this NAGPRA work to continue for several years. Mobile District, because of its construction and operation of so many large projects, has the national distinction of holding more human remains and related-burial goods than any other federal agency.
State Projects
Off federal lands, we work carefully with the proper authorities under state and local laws to identify Native American, European American, and African American graves and cemeteries. . Many of these sites are small, family cemeteries. Working with these cemeteries often requires us to determine how many graves are located in the cemetery and the cemetery’s boundaries. Our work has shown that one of the best and least intrusive methods of identifying grave shafts is by probing the ground with metal, T-handled tile probes. The resistance along with the size and shape of the subsurface disturbance can help to verify conclusions. We supplement this rapid approach with more sophisticated methods (such as Ground Penetrating Radar) when appropriate.
Once a cemetery is identified, we assist our clients in developing plans for preservation if feasible. In cases where cemeteries cannot be preserved in place, they may be relocated with respect and sensitivity and in accordance with applicable state laws. Our staff of physical anthropologists and historians is experienced in successfully completing all types of cemetery relocation projects.
Archaeologists work to recover remains Confederate graves at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. These remains were reburied in a more protected area.
Archaeologists Ralph Bailey, Dave Baluha, and Suzanne Johnston carefully expose coffins and burials prior to the expansion of the Medical University of South Carolina's Children's Research Institute in downtown Charleston.
