Canines help Caltrans locate burial sites near Lone Pine

By Mike Gervais
Register Staff

Jack, a black lab forensic canine, alerts on a Native American burial site near Lone Pine. Twelve other sites were located near this site by Jack and three other forensic dogs. Photo submitted

 When state officials recently sought help in locating a sacred Native American burial ground, they turned to an unlikely source: man’s best friend.
Over two days this past spring, at the behest of Caltrans District 9, teams of forensic search dogs and their handlers scrutinized a field near Lone Pine in order to locate numerous Native American burial sites without disturbing the area. The clever canines were able to pinpoint 13 burial sites which can now be protected.

The expedition was part of the agency’s preparations for widening U.S. 395 in that area from two lanes to four lanes.
Caltrans had received notification from a Native American, Terald Goodwin, that there is a historic Native American burial ground near the location of the proposed southbound lanes. He knew where the burial grounds were, having been there as a child to spread beads with his great-grandmother at the burial place of his ancestors. However, he did not know exactly how many graves were located at the site, or how large the burial grounds were.
Armed with that knowledge, Caltrans wanted concrete information as to where, and how large, the burial grounds are before beginning work on the highway improvements.
There are two commonly known ways to do this, said Caltrans District 9 Archeologist Tom Mills, the first being ground-penetrating radar, and the second being the forensic search dogs.
"With the area out there (rock formations and boulders) the ground-penetrating radar could have a hard time with that ground," said Mills.
The ground-penetrating radar is a device that is carried around on a sled in the area to be examined, it sends pulses into the ground that bounce back rough readings of what lies beneath. But with rocks, condensed ground and other possible obstructors in the area, Mills said that Caltrans felt the radar would not be ideal.

A forensic canine handler observes flags marking potential Native American burial sites. Caltrans District 9 utilized four canine crews in May to find several Native American burial sites near a planned highway expansion project. Photo submitted

Also, the radar "is stuff that you have to pull around on a sled out there, and that’s an area of high sensitivity for Native American culture. With something like (an Indian burial ground) you don’t want to disturb anything. You want to be as non-invasive as possible," Mills said.
And forensic search dogs are just that: non-invasive.

The dogs are trained to find the scent of decomposing flesh, which, according to Mills, can be detected in the ground and surrounding area for up to 1,000 years.
"They just scour the area, they go back and forth and they’re not guided by the trainer at all.?It’s what they’re trained to do," he said.The dogs leave little more than tracks on the ground as they look for the scent of the remains at the burial site.
On May 11, 2007 Caltrans joined with a team from the Institute for Canine Forensics. The team consisted of four dogs and their individual handlers. Each dog searched the area separately. When the dog alerted to a scent a yellow flag was placed at the location. The flags were then pulled and the next dog would work the area repeating the same procedure. All four dogs alerted to the same sites. It took only eight hours over a two-day period to identify 13 burial sites. The overall area identified by the team was larger than Caltrans initially thought. The dogs specified 13 alerts within the cemetery, and blue and red glass beads were found in the area.

"I was totally amazed with how the dogs are trained and actually do the work. I think they will eventually become a major tool used in prehistoric archeology," Mills said.
According to Mills, Caltrans was aware that there were 10 or more burial sites in the area they were searching, but the exact location of each site and the number of burial sites was unclear.
"This burial ground will be formally recorded during the next phase of our cultural work on the project, and will be avoided during any construction. The nature of the site and its location will be kept confidential in accordance with state and federal laws," said Mills.
In addition to the grave sites, artifacts, such as glass beads, were found there. "It is typical to find beads and other artifacts at sites like these," Mills said, noting that the artifacts make it even more important that the site remain undisturbed.
As far as the Caltrans highway project is concerned, "with things like this we do everything we can to avoid it and not disturb the site," Mills said.
Some of canine forensic search dogs' notable successes include the location of the 1846 Donner Party Campsite in Truckee, Calif.; an ancient (AD 1600s) burial site in Pardubice, Czech Republic; and the unmarked grave of Lolo, a fur trapper from the mid 1800s, on the Lewis and Clark trail in Montana. The background of the Forensic Search Dogs has made them a valuable tool. To use them for this project met Mills' requirement to be cost effective and, most importantly, leave the area undisturbed.