Search for lost Zion graves brings up pieces of the past - Tampa Bay Times

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TAMPA — Archaeological work continues at Robles Park Village, where archaeologists seek to learn whether the all-black, segregation-era Zion Cemetery still exists under five apartment buildings that are now vacant.

Rectangular soil stains have been discovered a few feet under the ground in three areas, and those likely denote coffins lie beneath.

They plan to expose two coffins tops to prove graves are still intact throughout the cemetery’s footprint.

But work has been slowed this week by other findings — artifacts once left for those buried at Zion.

“It’s another layer of history,” said Rebecca O’Sullivan of the Florida Public Archaeology Network, which is part of the dig. “These items were important to them.”

Archaeologists discover artifacts during the search for lost graves at Zion Cemetery in Tampa. Before Robles Park Village was built over the cemetery, a house was there. These bricks are in the area where the house stood. [PAUL GUZZO | Times]

In historic African American cemeteries, it was typical for loved ones to adorn the deceased’s grave with personal items.

"Maybe a favorite dish or the last thing they touched," Jeff Moates of the archaeology network said.

Among the items they found are pieces of glass and ceramic and a medicine bottle.

Those items will be analyzed in a lab to learn whether they date back to Zion’s years in the early 1900s.

Fighting conch shells, which O’Sullivan said are symbolic of the water, have also been found. Water symbolizes the passage to the afterlife.

Nearly 800 pioneering black residents of Tampa were buried in the 2.5-acre Zion Cemetery from 1901 through 1929, until a white developer began building on and selling the land.

Related: 10 important moments in the story of Tampa's lost Zion Cemetery

A Tampa Bay Times story last year questioned if the bodies were moved.

From August through January, archaeologists used ground penetrating radar to confirm the presence of around 300 coffins and believe another 500 could still be there.

Bottles and other items are displayed as work continues to search for Zion Cemetery graves Wednesday, June 24, 2020 in Tampa. [JAMES BORCHUCK | Times]

The work this week is meant to verify the radar findings.

To ensure that no artifacts are lost, as the excavating machine pulls back the first layer of soil, it's done an inch at a time with the archaeologists staring intently for findings.

They then hand dig. Each pile of dirt is tossed into a sifter.

“Even the smallest item could have meant a lot to them,” O’Sullivan said.

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