After nearly five months of mystery, the black plastic veil of secrecy hiding the archaeological site in downtown Oak Harbor has finally come down.
However, aside from a new dirt road, there isn’t much to see and state and city officials are providing little information about just what was recovered. As of Tuesday, Nov. 15, the confirmed number of Native American individuals found stands at seven, though experts believe that figure will increase.
“There’s absolutely more, it’s just a question of how many,” said Allyson Brooks, director of the state Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation.
Although archaeological work has ceased in what was the southern lane of Pioneer Way, in front of Mike’s Mini Mart and Oak Harbor Tavern, results are slow in coming largely because of what was found.
Early on, experts were finding skeletons that were mostly intact, which made identifying individuals much easier, Brooks said. Later, recovery was limited to small bone fragments and the state agency’s physical anthropologist is literally now tasked with putting them back together.
“He’s looking at thousands of pieces,” Brooks said.
She also said that this is just one of many projects the anthropologist is working on all over the state. Coming up with some definitive answers is going to take some time.
“You have to understand, it’s going to take months,” she said.
Complicating the release of a final report is the Pit Road site. The dirt was excavated from Pioneer Way and the fragments within the soil will certainly affect the findings. Although the state has issued the city a permit to begin archaeological work at the site, no start date has been released.
According to project manager Larry Cort, the barricade on Pioneer Way was dropped Nov. 8. The plan had been to put it back up in what was the northern lane of the street while similar archaeological work was conducted there. The area will be made into sidewalks and parking.
However, hoping to reduce archaeological costs and the risk of finding additional human remains, city officials have hatched a new plan that could involve very little digging.
Instead of excavating enough soil to make the parking lot flush with the rest of the street, city officials hope to pave over the existing dirt and create a slightly elevated area. It would be flush with the sidewalk and include a “roll-curb” at the transition to the street, Cort said.
But it’s uncertain whether the plan will move forward as it will require a change to the city’s permit with the state historic preservation office. Cort said they hoped to file the permit change Tuesday.
Brooks confirmed that any changes to the permit will have to be approved. The city’s plan for a raised parking area is not out of the ordinary, but she said it will have to be run past the tribes. While some of those to be contacted have OK’d such solutions in the past, others have not been so supportive.
“It’s tribe by tribe,” Brooks said.
According to Cort, the decision will have financial ramifications. Although he declined to speculate with numbers, he said if the plan is approved some archaeological work will still have to be conducted along with tribal monitoring but not nearly as much as if the permit change is rejected.
Cort said the Pioneer Way project is still within budget at about $7.6 million, but the discovery of Native American remains has so far resulted in about $565,000 in unexpected archaeology, security and miscellaneous expenses and about $150,000 in unplanned fees with the city’s contractor and surveying firm.
None of the those figures include the cost of the Pit Road site or the expense of reburying the Native American remains collected.
The project contractor is expected to return around the end of the month and, weather permitting, Cort said rest of the street should be paved within four to six weeks. The entire project, including the removal of power lines and poles, should be finished no later than March, he said.
