PHOTOS: Local anthropologists exhume buried Loretto Sisters
The nuns buried at Loretto Heights belonged to a congregation devoted to service and justice through education that still operates today.
Amanda Schwengel
July 08, 2022
Local anthropologists exhume buried Loretto Sisters from the Loretto Heights campus in Southwest Denver in a field study on Thursday, July 7, 2022. The nuns buried at Loretto Heights will be joining 22 of their contemporaries already buried at Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery in Wheat Ridge.
A Sacred Heart remnant found in the graves. Photo by Amanda Schwengel
Caitlin Calvert, MSU Denver senior double-majoring in History and Archeology, helps with the exhumation. Photo by Amanda Schwengel
Michala Stock, Ph.D., assistant professor of Anthropology at Metropolitan State University of Denver and director of the school’s Human Identification Laboratory, recruited current MSU Denver students and alumni to join faculty and students from other area colleges in taking part in a one-of-a-kind field experience. Photo by Amanda Schwengel
For MSU Denver student Caitlin Calvert, the experience is not only invaluable for work in cultural-resource management but a crucial examination of what it means to be human. Photo by Amanda Schwengel
A total of 62 Loretto Sisters were exhumed from the Loretto Heights campus in Southwest Denver to be transported to Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery in Wheat Ridge. Photo by Amanda Schwengel
MSU Denver Anthropology and Biology graduate Allie Kennedy, left, with Sister Mary Nelle Gage, helps at the site. Photo by Amanda Schwengel
A backhoe operator initially excavates the graves to a specific depth, at which point students begin hand-shoveling the soil. Photo by Amanda Schwengel
Michala Stock, Ph.D., assistant professor of Anthropology at MSU Denver and director of the Human Identification Laboratory, inspects a piece of wood found on-site. Photo by Amanda Schwengel
Burial dates range from the late 1800s through 1969, so the contents of each site can vary substantially given their proximity to one another. Photo by Amanda Schwengel
