By William Croyle
Enquirer contributor

PETERSBURG - A burial site between 500 and 800 years old discovered last week will not prevent David and Mary Holdcraft from building their new home at that location.

Mary Holdcraft got the news Monday morning after archaeologists studied the remains uncovered by TK Constructors last Thursday.

"I feel a little better today," said Holdcraft after a weekend of uncertainty. "We can build our house."

The lot sits at the corner of Market and Front streets across from the Ohio River and was inherited by the Holdcrafts last year.

Construction began on their new ranch home Thursday with the digging of the basement but was halted after workers found human remains , including a skull, rib bones and two leg bones about four feet deep.

A forensic anthropologist determined on Friday that the remains were prehistoric. Archaeologists David Pollack and Nancy O'Malley from the University of Kentucky were called in Monday morning to determine the next step.

"We're hoping to be able to come out here later in the week and excavate it," Pollack said Monday. "We'll bring a backhoe in, carefully scrape and look for grave shafts, then hand excavate."

Digging the remaining 8-foot by 20-foot area will probably start this Thursday and could be done by Saturday, according to Pollack. Construction on the home can continue after that. The Holdcrafts still expect to close by their target date of Oct. 28.

The bones will be taken to a lab where they will be washed, identified and analyzed over the next six months. There are remains of at least one person.

"It wouldn't surprise me if we hit additional graves," said Pollack.

Pollack, who did some excavating in Petersburg in 1991, said the town sits on two Native American villages - one dating from 1200-1400 A.D. and the other from 1400-1500 A.D. He said the remains are probably those of a Shawnee tribesman.

Pollack and O'Malley said they do hope to find out the person's age, sex, health, diet and whether or not he or she did a lot of physical labor.

"There's a lot you can tell from analysis of human bone," said O'Malley. "And it's going to tell us a little bit more about Petersburg."

O'Malley said no decision has been made yet on whether the remains will be reburied.

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E-mail williamcroyle@yahoo.com