Tulsa’s Oaklawn Cemetery Excavation Is Underway

A full excavation is currently underway at Oaklawn Cemetery in Tulsa, Oklahoma as archaeologists are attempting to learn whether the mass graves on the premises are connected to the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

Last fall, crews discovered 12 coffins with human remains during a test excavation. According to NewsOn6, the team said that if the dimensions of the mass grave are correct, they may find more than 30 individuals buried within it.

Archaeologists plan to contemporaneously document the excavation with pictures and share information about the remains as they carefully remove them from the ground.

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On-site lab work by a team of scientists will also be done during the excavation, which will reportedly take weeks to months to study and determine conclusive findings.

“I hope that even though it’s not going to be tomorrow and it’s going to take us some time, I hope that we have answers and that I hope we can lend something to learning more about who these individuals are, who are in this unmarked mass grave that we didn’t know about previously,” Dr. Kary Stackelbeck with the Oklahoma Archeological Survey said, according to NewsOn6.

Excavation work began on Tuesday at 10 am. That will be followed by the team working at Oaklawn Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. until the work is done.