Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Museum studies bones on mesa

Another skeleton also removed

Julia M. Dendinger News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jdendinger@news-bulletin.com

Belen The human bones found on Belen's west mesa in early March have been removed by the staff of an Albuquerque museum for further study and evaluation.

Detective Sgt. John Gordon of the Valencia County Sheriff's Department said that, once the bones had been discovered, their fate had to be determined.

"As long as they are out there, there is the chance that others will report the same site," he said. "And there is a certain amount of celebrity. People want go see the bones and possibly dig for other archeological items. We've heard through the grapevine that people have gone out there, trying to find the site."

When the bones were originally reported, the Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI) responded. However, experts there determined that the bones were at least decades if not hundreds of years old.

"Since OMI doesn't handle these types of cases, we needed to find someone who could," Gordon said. After a few phone calls to the State Historical Society, the sheriff's department was directed to the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology in Albuquerque.

"They have obtained a permit from the state for removal of the remains and to meet certain criteria," Gordon said.

Dr. Heather Edgar, curator of human osteology for the Maxwell Museum, came out to the site on the last weekend of March, bringing three undergraduate students from the University of New Mexico.

Since the skeletons were exposed to the surface, they were in danger of further erosion, Edgar said. "OMI determined that they were not of medical legal significance," she said. "Obviously, our first choice is to always leave something alone. But with them being on the arroyo edge, they would most likely be subject to further erosion."

Edgar requested permission from the state archeologist to remove the remains and said that, while the skeletons have been removed, the team may come back for another visit at a later time.

Upon excavating the site, Edgar and her team discovered a third skeleton in addition to the two that were originally reported last month.

The bones will now be taken back to the osteology lab at the museum where they will be cleaned and an age at death will be estimated. Edgar said they would also attempt to determine sex and other health information about the remains.

"This is all required by state law and will be reported to the historic preservation division," Edgar said.

Once the museum gathers its information, she said all the tribes who may be interested in the remains are contacted. "They may be repatriated to the tribe at that time," she said. "Or they could stay in the museum for possible display if they are not claimed."

Edgar said there is also a new state burial ground for such remains but it is not up and running just yet.

"In some ways, it is a public service. We aren't paid to go out and do this," she said. "The state issues us a permit to excavate burial sites and, in return, we agree to go in and help in these kinds of cases.

"Two or three skeletons may not tell us a lot about prehistoric life, but two or three here and two or three there over a large area will give us enough cumulative data to get a good picture."

Edgar, who excavated her first remains in 1989 and is a research assistant professor at University of New Mexico, said the museum gets calls to remove remains about twice a year.

"I do enjoy it. It's not a treasure hunt," she says firmly. "I'm not there because I'm interested in the stuff. It's the people. You get to see something no one has seen before. And a day in the field is always better than a day in the office."

Gordon said it was an informative afternoon observing Edgar at the excavation site. "It was really interesting to talk to her. She has worked with mummies that are thousands of years old," he said. "And not only does this help advance their studies, but it is good for us too because it gives more history to the area."

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