PORT ANGELES — Less than a month after archaeological excavations started at the graving yard site, Lower Elwha Klallam tribal officials say hundreds of artifacts and the remains of more than 50 Klallam ancestors have been discovered.
“Over a dozen of our ancestors have been found intact,” said Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Secretary/Treasurer Frances G. Charles.
“This site is a burial area, and we know will find many, many more.”
The state Department of Transportation’s planned graving yard for Hood Canal Bridge components is located where a Klallam village named Tse-whit-zen once stood.
The location is on the waterfront just east of the Nippon Paper Industries USA Co. Ltd. mill.
Charles said remains and artifacts have been found throughout the 22-acre site.
Tribal officials say the village dates back thousands of years.
Transportation and Lower Elwha Klallam officials held a news conference Thursday on the property to provide an overview of archaeological work.
Larson Anthropological Archaeological Services Ltd., a Gig Harbor-based firm, began excavating April 27.
