UC Davis Health officials said construction crews uncovered remains from nearly 80 previously unidentified burials on its Sacramento campus in February near the site of a former county hospital cemetery.<\/p>\n
University officials announced the discovery in a statement this week, saying the remains were uncovered during excavation for construction along X Street near Stockton Boulevard. Historical and archaeological investigations showed the area overlapped with the site of the former Sacramento County Hospital cemetery, which operated from the 1880s to the 1920s, officials said.<\/p>\n
The remains from 77 previously unknown burials were being stored in a secure facility, UC Davis Health officials said.<\/p>\n
“The recovered remains vary in condition, with some consisting of relatively complete skeletal remains and others consisting of bone fragments,” the UC Davis Health statement read.<\/p>\n
Officials said there was no evidence the remains were Native American. No gravestones, grave markers or other identifying materials had been recovered.<\/p>\n
“The discovery of older human remains is relatively common in historic regions like Sacramento,” officials said in the statement, adding that UC Davis Health is working with public agencies and the Sacramento County Cemetery Advisory Commission to properly process and reinter the remains.<\/p>\n
The remains uncovered in February followed an earlier discovery of remains from 72 people who also were believed to have been buried at the former county hospital cemetery site, UC Davis Health officials said.<\/p>\n
Those remains were reinterred at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Sacramento with approval from the Sacramento County Superior Court, officials said.<\/p>\n