City work crew discovers “ancient” remains on Withrow Avenue near area known to contain First Nations burial sites

“Ancient” human remains have been discovered on Withrow Avenue, near Broadview Avenue, by City of Toronto works crews doing work on a water line late last week.

The small excavation site where the bones were located was attended by an anthropologist on Friday, Jan. 5, and is now being protected by Toronto police while more study is done.

The area where the bones were discovered, which is across the street from Withrow Avenue Junior Public School and the Quest Alternative School, had been earlier identified by the city as a place where Indigenous encampments had once existed.

The area has been known to be an archeological site since at least 1886, when it’s reported that crews excavating the initial construction of Withrow Avenue found communal gravesites in the area, according to CBC Toronto.

A 2021 City of Toronto report on the Danforth Avenue area east of the Don River outlines the long First Nations’ history of the area including settlements and encampments by members of the Huron-Wendat Nation.

“The banks of the Don River, Withrow Park, Phone Park and parts of Riverdale Park have been identified as areas of Archaeological Potential,” said the The History and Evolution of the Danforth – Broadview Avenue to Coxwell Avenue report. The full report can be read at https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/8b96-CityPlanning-Danforth-Historic-Context-Statement.pdf