Unearthed remains to be reburied at OLB cemetery

BELEN — After four years of slow, careful and diligent work, the archaeological dig at Plaza Viejo on Wisconsin Street in Belen — the site of the original Our Lady of Belen Catholic Church — finished in the summer of 2023.

The primary goal of the team, led by co-primary investigators Dr. Pamela K. Stone and Dr. Debra Martin, a professor of anthropology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was to locate as much of the old church as possible.

That goal was accomplished, with a large section of the original foundation uncovered and documented. During the dig, other minor artifacts and human remains were discovered as well.

Since the beginning of the Historic Belen Bioarchaeology Project, investigators have been very clear that any human remains found would be treated with care and respect during the study, then reburied at the current Our Lady of Belen Catholic Church cemetery.

Next week, the remains of the Belen ancestors found will be reburied at OLB’s Memorial Garden. Dr. Stone announced there will be a gathering open to the public at Our Lady of Belen Catholic Church, 101-A N. 10 Street in Belen, at 10 a.m., Friday, Feb. 21, with a Mass at 11 a.m. and burial to follow. A reception will be held at the church after the burial.

The bioarchaeology project started in 2018 and that year a section of foundation was located on the property, immediately to the west of the home there now.

Work continued in 2019 but there was a two-year hiatus in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the third season picking up in 2022.

In what has now been identified as most likely the center of the church interior, Stone said they found 19 distinct burials, meaning the remains were intact enough to conclude they belonged to one individual. Over years of use, the ground inside the original church was reused for burials, resulting in intermingled bones.

Development and building in the area around the church where the cemetery most likely was also disturbed and intermingled remains. Stone estimates the cemetery was located to the southwest of the old church, since that is where residents have said they’ve located remains.

With the conclusion of field work, Stone and Martin continued to study the ancestral remains found at the site.

“We can learn about the health and wellness of the people who lived here,” Stone said in 2023. “Some illnesses can mark the bones.”

They collaborated with Dr. Rick Smith at George Mason University, who performed DNA analysis of the remains. Smith, a biocultural anthropologist, took DNA samples from Belenites, which was completely voluntary and an opt-in process.

Any data gathered by Smith’s project will be anonymized and not made public unless the contributor wished to tell others.