New Bike/Ped Bridge On Ohlone Indian Burial Site

Ohlone Indian Bones Found At Emeryville Bridge Site

Depiction of what's now Emeryville
before the arrival of the Spanish in
the late eighteenth century.

The Emeryville Redevelopment Agency will vote on a resolution March 1 to retain an archaeological service company after test borings for the proposed bike/pedestrian bridge connecting Bay Street and Horton Street encountered human skeletons last month.  An initial report to the city council claims the human remains are "thousands of years old" and are of native American origin.
The Alameda County Coroner was contacted and after confirming the bones were human, the bridge contractor notified the Native American Heritage Commission according to the report.  The remains were carted off the site for safe keeping and a team of "most likely decedents" will help re-inter the remains upon completion of the bridge.  The Coroner says the remains are from two individual humans.

The eastern landing of the proposed bridge is where the remains were found and a future small park there called Horton Street Landing will be the final resting place for the two individuals.  The council report says the decedents team will decide the actual final burial site within the park and it will not be publicly disclosed.

Early Emeryville residents.

A February 11 letter to the City Engineer from the archeology firm states the added work is not covered in the nearly $14 million bridge project known as the South Bayfront Bike/Pedestrian Bridge and is asking for an additional $41,567 for the excavation and re-burial work.