For the answer, Guy Tasa, a human osteologist (bone specialist) at the UO Museum of Natural and Cultural History, will perform the initial cataloguing and analysis of the bone. DNA testing will certify whether any are human and possibly even link them with living descendants of the Donners. If the bones have “pot polish” on them, which occurs when bones are boiled in water, this will be a sign that cannibalism did take place.

“It’s like finding a treasure on the order of Custer’s battlefield,” says Tasa, who has participated in both digs. “The Donner Party is this infamous thing. We’re going to really be able to talk in depth about the entire four-month period out here. At the least we will be able show a sequence of events that ultimately may have led to cannibalism.”

The age and types of artifacts have convinced team members that they likely have located the Donner’s camp, and not a mining or logging camp.

“We’ve uncovered the kinds of things that confirm the presence of women and children,” Schablitsky says. “George Donner’s wife, Tamzene, was a teacher. Finding the pieces of a writing slate brings to my mind a vignette of her trying to normalize the situation by teaching her children arithmetic and spelling around the fire.”

Workers combing the site also found a broken teacup with a hand-painted design on it that looks a lot like holly and ivy, a whetstone and shards of medicine bottles.

Schablitsky and co-primary investigator Kelly Dixon, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Montana, brought a group of specialized researchers to this summer’s dig, including Donner Party historian Kristin Johnson of Sacramento, Calif.; forensic anthropologist Shannon Novak, Idaho State University; and bioarchaeologist and cannibalism expert G. Richard Scott, University of Nevada, Reno.

The team members are planning a book about the science of the Donner Party, but for the next year or more, the focus will be on sorting through this new evidence. In addition, Schablitsky will begin teaching a new UO course this fall, historical archaeology.

Last summer, the Discovery Channel funded the team’s excavation in the same area. Researchers unearthed burned bone, lamp glass, lead shot, bottle glass, ceramic dish fragments and a buckle. But a paper-thin layer of charcoal and a bone fragment with cut marks were not strong enough evidence to link the find directly to the Donners, so the team resolved to probe more deeply this year.

This summer’s excavation was supported by grants from the Truckee Tahoe Community Foundation and the University of Montana’s Office of Research. Additional support was provided by the U.S. Forest Service; Jones and Stokes, Inc.; Institute for Canine Forensics; Far Western Anthropological Research Group; Past Forward, Inc.; URS Consultants; Bureau of Land Management; and Summit Envirosolutions. Professional archaeologists from throughout the region volunteered their services to assist in the excavations.

Future work will include a spatial analysis to reconstruct the layout of the camp.