1999 Reburial at Mission San Juan Capistrano, San Antonio, Texas

On November 15, 1999, the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR), The University of Texas at San Antonio, returned 122 curation boxes containing human remains of between 103 and 125 individuals to Monsignor Balthazar Janacek, Archdiocese Director, Old Spanish Missions. These remains had been obtained during two previous Witte Memorial Museum excavations at Mission San Juan Capistrano. Subsequently, CAR returned the majority of the burial goods associated with these human remains to Monsignor Janacek. CAR then entered into an agreement with the Archdiocese of San Antonio to locate and monitor the excavation of the two reburial areas that were to coincide with two previously excavated areas. The location and monitoring of the reburial areas began on November 22, 1999. The reburial of the human remains and associated artifacts occurred on November 27, 1999. Present at the reburial ceremony were representatives of the Archdiocese of San Antonio, the National Park Service, the American Indians of Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions, a member of CAR, and members of the press and public.