Challenges to the Wisconsin Burial Sites Preservation Statute (WisStats 157.70)

Summary

The 1987 Wisconsin Burial Site Preservation Statute (WisStats 157.70) serves as the basis for the protection of all burial sites in the State of Wisconsin and assures that all human burial sites be accorded equal treatment under the law regardless of age or affiliation. Recently, challenges to the law have taken the form of an introduced bill (LBR 2890 – eventually withdrawn), and the convening of a Wisconsin Legislative Study Committee of the Preservation of Burial Sites. This committee is charged with reviewing the present law in the context of landowner rights and includes land developers, real estate lawyers and legislators. This poster summarizes suggested changes to the law, and presents the results of three burial site excavations in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin as case studies of the law in practice. The burial sites presented are The Old Catholic Cemetery (47 MI-0254), The Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery-Froedtert Tract (47 MI-0527), and the Second Ward or Gruenhagen Cemetery (47 MI-0523).

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17304