Human remains found in Sharpsburg confirmed to belong to Native American group

SHARPSBURG, Pa. (KDKA) – An ancient discovery in Sharpsburg.

Officials are now confirming beliefs about a burial site in the borough after remains were found last month.

Two weeks since gas crews discovered human remains on short canal street in Sharpsburg, KDKA has learned they belonged to Native Americans. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office determined this burial site is hundreds and hundreds of years old.

Peoples Gas workers and contractors excavating on the street found the remains on June 21, 2023.

Sharpsburg police responded and brought the bones to the county crime lab, and two days later, county forensics took over and searched for more. Investigators and the borough consulted an anthropologist from the Iroquois National Museum in upstate New York.

The chair of the Sharpsburg Historical Commission tells KDKA that anthropologists shared that the remains are from an Iroquois group. That could be any of five different tribal groups, including the Seneca, but it hasn’t been determined which group they’re from.

They found a bead and pottery this past week that could help with this research.

“I think when we come across the remains of that, we have to be respectful, and hopefully, we can use it as a learning experience to move forward and learn more,” said Melanie Linn Gutowski, chair of the Sharpsburg Historical Commission. “And I really hope that this will bring us closer in connection with our friends with the Seneca Nation to learn more about this discovery and also more about our Native American heritage in Sharpsburg.”

If you’re wondering why the remains weren’t found before, Gutowski tells KDKA that no one had ever dug previously in that area or had ever dug that deep until now.