BRANTFORD – Human remains found during a public utilities project in the area of Glenwood Drive back in early August have been sent to the University of Arizona for forensic evaluation, according to Brantford Police.
The intact skeletal remains have been already determined not to be modern. Glenwood Drive is located in the Locks Road area near where the 1784 Mohawk Village once stood, on high ground over looking the main portion of the village.
The remains could predate the arrival of the Six Nations as this same region was home to a number of very large Tobacco (Neutral) Indian settlements. One of the earliest non-native visitors of the Grand River area was a Catholic Monk who found several Neutral villages along the Grand near what is now Brantford, Caledonia, and Middleport.
U of A’s Radio Carbon dating methods will determine the exact age of the remains.
Provincial government regulations say that when human remains are found and foul play is ruled out by the coroner, the land owner where human remains were discovered will normally be tasked to cover the cost of hiring a licensed archaeologist to carry out an investigation. The archaeologist will determine the burial site’s age and cultural history.
The location of the remains is on part of what was once the John Lovejoy estate in the early 1830’s. Before then, it was part of the Mohawk Village region and before that, a common Neutral Indian’s hunting ground and hub of pre-contact Native commerce.
The remains are determined to be of considerable age, but a settler grave is not ruled out at this point. The forensic analysis will offer more information. Not long ago skeletal remains were found during a fence installation near Berkett’s Lane. Those remains were determined to be of Onkwehonwe (Native) origin.
