CANTON – Two St. Lawrence University professors and anthropology students were recognized this month by the New York Office of Historic Preservation with the Excellence in Archaeological Stewardship Award for their expertise and commitment to preserving one local village’s history

Mindy Pitre, associate professor of anthropology and the University’s J. Ansil Ramsay Professor of Public Health, was called in as a bioarchaeological consultant in 2019 when the Village of Heuvelton began a project to replace its existing water tower and construction crews stumbled upon skeletal remains.

Pitre was charged last fall with excavating and analyzing any recovered remains and collaborated at the site with Tim Abel, Ph.D., a local archaeologist, and chose to involve her students in the historic experience because they all had backgrounds in human osteology thanks to the courses Pitre regularly offers.

“Students have been afforded a rare opportunity to experience anthropology in the field while at the same time doing the community a service,” Pitre said. “It’s a win-win situation for everyone: Our students get an amazing experiential learning opportunity, and the community of Heuvelton has some of its early residents respectfully laid to rest.”

At the site, Pitre and her students removed the skeletal remains of several individuals that were inadvertently discovered. In addition to human remains, the team recovered coffin hardware such as nails, coffin screws, and hinges.

Pitre said all of their work at the site followed standard bioarchaeological and New York State Historic Preservation protocols and was carried out with the utmost respect for the discovered individuals.

The remains are being examined in Pitre’s St. Lawrence lab, where she has been carrying out skeletal analysis to determine information such as sex, age, ancestry, height, and cause and manner of death. Once her analysis is complete, the human remains will be reburied in Hillcrest Cemetery.

In addition to the Village of Heuvelton, Pitre, her students, and Abel, Associate Professor of Chemistry Adam Hill also received the award for photo-documenting the water tower in advance of its removal from the site, thereby helping to preserve this iconic moment in Heuvelton’s history.

Other entities recognized for their efforts on the Village of Heuvelton project included the USDA Rural Development, and Canton-based Capital Consultants Architecture & Engineering (C2AE).

“This experience that Mindy and her students were able to take part in illustrates one of the many ways she ensures academic learning takes place beyond the campus and throughout the region, helping students learn disciplinary methods and understand the human experience by getting their hands dirty,” said St. Lawrence Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs Karl Schonberg. “This was a tremendous opportunity for everyone involved, and I am grateful to our faculty members like Mindy and Adam who often find ways to have students work alongside them as they answer the North Country’s call.”