Workers Discover Prehistoric Native American Remains at Ames

A construction crew working on an Army project on Berry Court, just inside the Ames main gate, has unearthed the skeletal remains of a prehistoric Native American.

The crew discovered the skeletal remains on April 4 while excavating a site in an area of military housing. They were buried approximately 43 inches deep. The construction crew immediately stopped digging and notified Ames Dispatch, which contacted the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office. Officers from Ames' Protective Services and from the Sheriff's Office responded.

Human remains detection dog teams were brought in to verify that the bones are human. All three dogs , which have been trained to detect human remains even thousand years old, positively identified the bones as human. The dogs and their handlers are part of Ames' Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team. After examining the remains, a forensic anthropologist concluded that the remains are most likely those of a prehistoric Native American. The remains were respectfully returned to their burial site, which was secured until a Native American representative could be notified.

A few days after the initial discovery, two archaeologists, one of whom works for the Army and the other a Native American representative, finished excavating the remains and removed them from the site. They estimated the remains to be between 4,000 and 5,000 years old. The Army has submitted a proposal for continuing the construction. A decision is pending.

"NASA is committed to cooperating fully with the Native American leaders and treating these remains with the utmost respect," said Bob Dolci, director of Protective Services at Ames.