Miles of dirt may lay along a proposed Lake Michigan water pipeline route from Tinley Park through Mokena into New Lenox, but history won’t stand in its way.
On Monday, back hoeing of a 30-by-150-foot layer of top soil at the Sanctuary Golf Course turned up a lot of dirt but no signs of a Native American burial site like the one unearthed in 1994 during excavation for the golf course.
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During the 1994 digging operation, which is located across the road from the current excavation site, archeologist Rochelle Lurie discovered a single grave with the remains of three individuals.
She said didn’t expect to make a major find Monday on land near the bank of Hickory Creek, because the Native Americans who inhabited the land for 10,000 to 12,000 years settled their homes on higher ground.
“There’s nothing out here that suggests a burial,” Lurie said. “It’s primarily a village site that happens to have a grave.”
Lurie and archeologist Gary Stollenwerk flagged four small areas to the southeast of the site for examination, finding only two post holes and a pit that may have been used for trash or storage.