Bone fragments found during a utility dig in a section of historic downtown St. Augustine are linked to a Catholic church cemetery that served the city from 1572 to 1702.
"The bones that we recovered were associated with people who were buried in the Los Remedios cemetery," said Carl Halbirt, archaeologist for St. Augustine. "Based on the bones that we have, we know we have both adult as well as possible children."
The bones were found along Charlotte street as city crews prepared the area for utility work. More digging is planned.
Those buried at Los Remedios included Spaniards, Native Americans and enslaved Africans, according to Kathy Deagan, research curator of archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History.
It's not uncommon to find bones in this area of St. Augustine, Deagan said. She said several old cemeteries are under roads or parking lots.
"Skeletal remains have been found in six or seven sites," she said. "These are all pretty much Catholic cemeteries downtown that were connected to the church in one way or another."
He said one bone may be a femur and another is likely a tibia. They may be 300 to 400 years old. Halbirt said that regulations on archaeology weren't present many years ago. Sometimes new burials disturbed old graves. So, he said, there are questions about the fragments, such as whether they came from an original grave.
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Current regulations require contacting state officials when human remains are found so the state can make sure they're dealt with properly.
Meredith Beatrice, director of communications for the Department of State, said the state is working with Halbirt on the find.
"Once we have all the information and a final report from the city archaeologist, we will work together with our stakeholders to ensure a respectful interment of the remains in a timely manner,'' Beatrice wrote in an email to the newspaper.
Halbirt said that the Catholic church could eventually end up reburying the remains.
