Spring 2013 - University Honors College - University at Buffalo

Jesse HanchettHonors ScholarClass of 2013Science andIt is safe to say that for most of us littlethought goes into what could exist directlyunder our feet. We drive miles a day, walk toand from the place that we call home, but it isunlikely that we are aware at any given time ofwhat is lying just six feet under where we stand.Whether it is the route we take to work duringthe week, the weekend biking trail we frequentin the mornings, or the ground we scuff whenwalking to class here at UB, a certain ignoranceof what lies below remains intact for the majorityof us. That is, until a reason arises that requirestapping below the surface.It wasn’t until contractors were hired to build anew road on South Campus near Michael Halland Bailey Avenue that people in Buffalo becamewidely aware of what only a few had previouslyknown. As it turns out, a 19th century poorhousewas located on the same land that UB’s SouthCampus is situated on today. This past summer, anewly planned road that would run near MichaelHall and connect Bailey Avenue to the SouthCampus was set to be built directly atop the formerpoorhouse’s cemetery, where hundreds of residentswere buried throughout the years of its existence.Before the construction of the new road could becompleted, a large ongoing anthropological effort,headed by the anthropology department at UB,to excavate and rebury the remains at a secondaryburial location began.Unlike most people, members of UB’s Departmentof Anthropology spend a large amount of timecontemplating the earthen depths on a regularbasis. It is their livelihood to investigate and piecetogether a logical story from the fragmentedartifacts the earth has preserved. In particular, aselect team of graduate students, undergraduatesand supervising professors spent the summer12u n i v e r s i t y a t B U F F A L o