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Posted on 04/17/2026 8:11:42 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Human remains discovered during an excavation near Burden Lake Road in Sand Lake have been determined to be historical, according to New York State Police.
On April 15, 2026, a property was being excavated in the area of Burden Lake Road when remains were discovered and reported, according to State Police.
The site has been turned over to the New York State Museum's Department of Anthropology.
According to the NYS Museum, museum's archaeologists were alerted in accordance with the New York State Unmarked Burial Site Protection Act of 2023.
We're told the NYS Museum crew at the scene can confirm the remains are believed to be from the 19th century.
State Police say there is no criminal investigation involved.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbs6albany.com ...
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State police say human remains uncovered in Sand Lake are now being turned over to the New York State Museum because they may have historical value.Homeowner on possible historical remains unearthed on his property | 3:23
CBS6 Albany | 70.3K subscribers | 39,247 views | April 16, 2026
YouTube transcript reformatted at textformatter.ai follows.TranscriptWe're planning on building the shop. Um, the past couple of days, I saw this object kind of kicking around in the dirt. I assumed it was just a dog toy, um, or just a piece of junk I dug up from the ground. Um, I only saw the bottom inside of it and just thought it was an old ball or something. Um, and yesterday, for about the third time, I saw it where I dumped a pile of stone and, uh, I decided I got to get off the tractor and check this out and see what the heck this thing is. Um, I ended up picking it up, turning it over, and saw the eye sockets, and, uh, I still initially was in disbelief. I figured it was just a Halloween prop or something the kid buried who used to live here. Um, and I looked at the bone and realized, no, I'm no expert, but this looks like bone inside the fragmented pockets and everything of the bone structure. And I immediately realized, I'm like, I think this is human. I just set it down, backed away, did a little dance, and shook it off. And, uh, I immediately called Rancellor County to come check it out.
So they came out, they brought the state pathologist out, right? The state medical examiner came out. Scodc police showed up first. Uh, the medical examiner came shortly after, um, and she started checking out the bones, um, looking at the evidence and trying to determine how old it was or if it was real. They didn't even know if it was real or not. Um, she did determine it was, in fact, real and fairly old. Um, but at that point, they locked the whole scene down. Uh, they dug until dark, and then, uh, police were here all night, um, securing the scene all night long. And first thing in the morning, at 7:00, everybody showed up from the state, and, uh, they started digging and doing their investigation and, uh, determined it was probably an old farmer, uh, from the colonial era that was buried there.
Wow. So this is not something that's like 50 years old, 100 years old. It's probably older than that.
No. No. I'm guessing 250 to 300 years old. But they're going to determine that. They did end up finding some nails and wood fragments from the coffin, uh, potentially. Uh, so they're going to date the nails and try to get an estimate of how old it actually is. And then they're going to determine, um, whether we can leave them be where they rest or if they have to be moved to a proper cemetery.
Yeah. Because that—yeah. Because, you know, do you want them still here? Do you not want them still here?
Right. I mean, they obviously wanted to be there. Uh, it was the backside of an old farm property. Um, so they obviously wanted to be there for the rest of their existence. Um, so I'd hate to be the one to make them move. So hopefully we can keep them here if they allow us and allow me to keep continuing to build my shop where I want it to be, as long as it's undisturbed. And hopefully we can get them buried deeper, at a proper depth, and, uh, let them rest. You said it looked like, you know, you said it was only a foot or so down.
Yeah, it was only about a foot or two deep, but I think when they built the house originally, they may have excavated the backyard and taken some material off. Um, so I think that's why it was so shallow.
When I was a kid, I was always digging in our backyard for one reason or another, building tunnel forts, playing with GI Joes, what have you. I always dreamed I would run across some old artifacts like Indian arrowheads, etc., but never did. I probably would have freaked though if I had run across a human skeleton.
This makes “news” in the US. In Western Russia and Ukraine, shallow graves of the 20th and 21st century war dead are discovered so routinely that those that find them are more concerned about unexploded munitions than the bodies.
All I ever found in my yard was some old GI Joe toys some kid buried 50 years ago.
Sand Lake looks like a pretty place:
Other than some rusted out cookware the 'bos used back when riding the rails was more of a thing, I've never found anything in a lifetime of walking around the countryside -- arrowheads, pottery, whatever. But I'd not be surprised to learn there are family remains here on the homestead (infants who didn't make it).
Mob hits of the 20s and 30s? But there wouldn’t be any coffin nails associated with the burial.
I skimmed the article and missed coffin nails. Yep, rules out mob hits and burying crooked politicians. Also rules out Indian burial. Must be lots of Indian burial sites around there. It’s 24 miles south of Saratoga and Bemis Heights, so not a dead Brit soldier from the Revolutionary War.
Probably just a boring old family member.
I’m not halting construction on a project for something sticking out of the dirt.
SSS
Genealogy is fascinating, other people's genealogy not so much. 😊 After getting a date for the nails and cross-checking with the land records, I hope they 'do' 🧬 the DNA, and figure out who the deceased was.
You’re not the property owner.
“they obviously wanted to be there. Uh, it was the backside of an old farm property. Um, so they obviously wanted to be there for the rest of their existence. Um, so I’d hate to be the one to make them move. So hopefully we can keep them here if they allow us and allow me to keep continuing to build my shop where I want it to be, as long as it’s undisturbed.”
I went to Gettysburg College from 1987 - 1991. I don’t think a year passed while I was there that some local wasn’t digging up a garden or for an addition to their home that they didn’t find a crate of amputated limbs or some other battlefield cast offs. The orange hurricane fencing would go up and swarms of national park service workers would descend...
Best thing I ever found was rusty old Tonka truck. I did find some suspicious white powder in my first house though.
The 19th century is the 1801-1900, so probably not mob related.
Growing up in SoCal, I buried a few GI Joes in my time as well (caught in "cave-ins" during a "firefight"). I also once buried a "time capsule" in my yard (a Coke bottle filled with a note, coins, and various odds and ends). I wonder if these were ever uncovered.
“Burden Lake Road”
It runs southward from the center of Averill Park.
My aunt Margaret and her husband Joe had a camp near Crooked Lake.
Joe was a policeman in Troy, NY and investigated the German-American Bund.
The show “The Gilded Age” was partially filmed in Troy, where I was born.
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