SKULL FOUND AT WALMART SIGHT

[Mrs. Sharon B. Hodge]

Wal-Mart skull may be 200 years old

An up-turned tree is all that remains of the site near Wal-Mart where a human skull was unearthed last week. The skull is believed to be that of a female Native American possibly 200 years old or more a report issued to Erie County Coroner Brian Baxter stated. A human skull found on Wal-Mart property in Sandusky Aug. 19 is Native American, and possibly 200 years old or more, a forensic anthropologist has concluded. A spokesperson for a state historic office speculated the skull could have been abandoned by someone keeping it as a souvenir.



A brief report issued Monday to Erie County Coroner Brian Baxter said the weathered bone is consistent with the form and structure of a Native American. The skull's dental and cranial development indicate a young adult, and other characteristics suggest a female, it said."This human skull is Native American, historic (or ancient)..." the report said. The remains were examined by Julie Saul, director of the forensic anthropology laboratory of the Lucas County Coroner's Office. The skull was delivered there by a northwest Ohio agent of the Criminal Bureau of Investigation after it was found behind the Wal-Mart garden center. The Lucas County office would not disclose information, saying the Erie County coroner has jurisdiction. Baxter said he has yet to consult Saul on the findings. He wouldn't speculate why a centuries-old skull missing its jawbone would be found in an open parking area. The skull could have been unearthed from the Wal-Mart property, but it's unlikely, said a spokesperson from the Ohio Historic Preservation Office. Wal-Mart developments usually are built through coordination with the federal government. Therefore, future sites undergo preservation studies. An unrelated archeological survey was conducted in 2002 over 80 undeveloped acres north of the U.S. 250- Ohio 2 intersection, the spokesperson said. Although the site is considered prehistorically significant, no evidence of human remains or cemeteries was found, the spokesperson said.



"We do see people who, for one means or another, may have been holding onto a skull, possibly passed on through generations, and abandon it," he said. "They decide it's nothing they want to hold onto any longer, and instead of throwing it away, they abandon it." The skull may originally have come from an unmarked Native American cemetery or gravesite, he added. Sandusky Library archivist Ron Davidson said Erie County was inhabited by two Native American tribes. The Erie were annihilated by the Iroquois tribe about 1650. The Huron, also know as the Wyandots, remained into the 1700s. A third tribe, the Ottawas, traveled through and traded in the area. The skull was found last Tuesday at 3:08 p.m. by a Wal-Mart maintenance man collecting trash in an auxiliary parking lot behind the store's garden center. He reportedly found the remains in brush under a tree, at first mistaking them for a Halloween prop. Lucas County Coroner James R. Patrick said his office received only a skull for examination. However, one of his investigators said additional bones were also inventoried. Perkins Township Acting Police Chief Rob Parthemore said the case will probably remain open. "Of course we'll investigate it," he said. "But our hands are tied as to what information we have at hand.

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