Two human leg bones discovered near 6.5 Mile Haines Highway should provide more information on a skull that originated at the same site, archaeologist Dr. Anastasia Wiley said during a presentation at the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival last week.
Wiley believes the skull is about 2,000 years old, which would make it only about the sixth such find in Southeast Alaska from early time periods, she said. Measurements of the skull and leg bones by forensic anthropologist Kassie Sugimoto are expected to provide definitive information on the age, sex, ancestry and stature of the person.
“Bones can tell you a lot… By Saturday, we’ll know a lot more,” said Wiley, who is combining the forensic work with a weekend of free public workshops and lectures on skeletal studies.
Wiley has made characterizations about the skull, but the weekend’s work will add certainty, she said. For example, she believes the skull is one from a female because of its size, but that will be determined by “cranial metrics,” measuring the skull in 20 different places.
“We’ll be looking at it scientifically, instead of, ‘Anastasia says, well it looks like…,’” she said.
Because of their hardness, skulls are the longest-enduring portion of a human skeleton. Leg bones, which are porous, don’t last as long, making the discovery of a femur and tibia exciting, Wiley said. “It’s miraculous to find leg bones. It’s very much a surprise and very pleasing.”
Wiley and a team of workers and 12 volunteers sifted through 50 yards of earth, including about 10 yards at the American Bald Eagle Foundation, where the skull was found in sandy soil that was delivered there from the highway site.
The leg bones were discovered in the second load of fill processed using heavy equipment and a mechanical shaker. Skull fragments found near the legs fit into the skull discovered at the foundation, leading Wiley to believe all the bones are from the same person.
“I could tell (the skull fragments) weren’t duplicates. They were the back of the skull and that’s what was missing,” Wiley said.
Resident Tim Ackerman, who has worked for Wiley monitoring roadside construction for Native remains, found the skull fragments at 6.5 Mile near where the leg bones were discovered. He said their appearance matched others he found in sandy soil at the eagle foundation.
“They were a darker color. You could tell they were on their way to being mineralized. They were almost black against the red sand” at the gravel pit, he said.
By law, the bones must be repatriated to a local tribe, but both tribes here have indicated that they want to learn as much as possible from them before they’re re-interred, Wiley said. Natives are interested in the person’s age as well as any DNA information that can be discerned. Wiley plans to have the bones carbon-dated, but cautions that it’s sometimes not possible to get DNA from heavily calcified bones.
Some chunks of wood from a Native fish weir are the only other items from the valley to be carbon dated, and were found to be 2,160 years old. People have been in Southeast at least 10,000 years, and the first settlements sprung up about 6,500 years ago, Wiley said.
Ackerman said the location of the bones in sandy soil makes him wonder if the bones weren’t deposited at the site by movement of a glacier or river.
“It will be interesting to see how old they are. That will tell us a lot,” Ackerman said.
Wiley based her estimation that the skull is about 2,000 years old on its degree of mineralization. Getting DNA information isn’t a given, as advanced mineralization eliminates the possibility for obtaining genetic information, she said.
In her presentation during the eagle festival, Wiley said the leg bones appear to have erosion in the same spot, suggesting the body was fed on by a predator, possibly spreading them around.
Wiley said the bones offer a rare find, as most archaeological work here is done in conjunction with road construction and roadsides represent a limited area.
Wiley will hold the skeletal studies workshops from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 18-21 at her Piedad Road home. Subjects will include: “Introduction to Forensic Anthropology,” “Data Collection Methods,” “The Biological Profile and Methods for Assessing Age, Sex, Ancestry, and Stature,” and “The 5 D’s of Skeletal
Biology: Research Topics and a Case Study from the Peruvian Andes.”
There’s no charge for the workshops and participants are encouraged to bring a sack lunch.