ASU's drive toward the future uncovered some parts of the ancient past on Thursday.
Construction workers building on a site near McAllister Avenue and University Drive discovered the remains of a Hohokam burial ground, ASU spokesman Jim Hathaway said.
The cemetery is dated between A.D. 300 and 1400, when Hohokam tribes called Tempe home for more than 1,000 years. Construction was underway in the area for a laboratory of the Biodesign Institute.
"Long-standing villages and canals covered most of campus, and Hayden Butte itself was a sort of spiritual site," Hathaway said.
Crews halted work after the discovery of the remains of a person and a few artifacts, and have not been working around the small site since then.
Hathaway said the site was blessed by tribal elders, and anthropologists from ASU are helping to excavate the site and move the remains under the jurisdiction of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.
"It's a situation where it needs to be handled expeditiously because it is sacred ground to those people," Hathaway said.
Hohokam artifacts are nothing new to ASU, as the tribe used to be widespread in this part of the Valley.
"Test pits are dug every time construction is started to avoid digging up something important; at this recent site several fire pits were discovered, but no one expected to find human remains," Hathaway said.
ASU archeaologist Glen Rice is in charge of the excavation on the ASU side. He said human remains were last discovered at ASU in 2000.
"Burials are a sensitive issue," he said. "We tend to get more excited about excavating houses because we can get more information - and we prefer to treat the recovery as a cultural issue and turn over the materials to help the Native Americans respect their ancestors," Rice said.
Rice said the small site would likely be cleared by the end of the week.
Reach the reporter at annemarie.moody@asu.edu.
