The FBI keeps information on 'Escalante Man' discovery from Utah archaeologists, treat the site as a crime scene
The Salt Lake Tribune
By Brian Maffly
07/12/2008
An aging American Indian with rotting teeth and arthritic joints sat down
and died in the Utah desert outside Escalante with a musket, ammunition and
a bucket. Blowing sand covered his corpse for more than a century before a
hiker stumbled across it last year.
This is the likely scenario of how a nearly complete skeleton, dubbed
"Escalante Man" in BLM documents, came to be buried a few hundred paces off
Highway 12 in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. What remains
a mystery is why a dozen FBI agents excluded archaeologists from its April
16 excavation, treating the site as a crime scene rather than the historic
site many believe it clearly was. "It's an ongoing investigation. Our policy
is we cannot comment on it," FBI spokesman Juan Becerra said. Agents stress
they had legitimate reasons for excluding the monument's own archaeologist
from the dig, even though they invited a TV news crew to document it, and
the U.S. Attorney's Office signed off on the investigation. While the BLM
and FBI acted in partnership on the dig, the episode has attracted criticism
from state officials charged with protecting cultural resources and
triggered dissension within the BLM.
"It seems the FBI is running roughshod over the BLM, scientific
procedures and legal requirements in their unexplained zeal to excavate an
historic site," Matt Zweifel, the BLM's excluded Kanab-based archaeologist,
wrote in a four-page memo documenting a litany of concerns two days before
the agents descended on the site with shovels and screens.
''I have seen other burials 'excavated' by law enforcement personnel
with disastrous results as far as archaeology is concerned,'' he wrote. "I
don't doubt that the FBI forensics personnel are the best in their field,
but they are not trained archaeologists."
No one has accused the feds of botching the dig, but some wonder whether
they ran afoul of cultural resource protection laws, particularly
requirements to obtain permits before excavating historic sites and to
consult with tribes in a timely manner. And the secrecy with which it was
handled mystified and frustrated state archaeologist Kevin Jones and Forrest
Cuch, Utah's director of Indian affairs.
"We try to work with law enforcement. If there is a possibility that
there is a crime involved, we would want the police there, and vice versa if
it's an historic site. Neither of us benefit working in isolation," Jones
said. "It's regrettable that a professional archaeologist wasn't there."
The case of Escalante Man began in winter when an ''informant''
discovered what appeared to be a pipe sticking out of the ground and
reported it to authorities, according to internal BLM documents obtained
through the Freedom of Information Act. Federal officers checked the site
and returned to Salt Lake City with metal objects and bone fragments, which
BLM experts determined to be human. The FBI and BLM law enforcement
personnel organized an "evidence recovery" effort, but did not inform
monument officials or Jones' agency, the Utah Division of State History.
Zweifel got wind of the dig on April 14, but his inquiries went
unanswered and monument director Rene Berkhoudt ordered Zweifel to stay away
from the April 16 excavation. BLM officer Larry Shackelford initially
invited Zweifel, but wound up tapping a planner out of the Salt Lake City
office, Jeanette Matovich, who is trained in bioanthropology, to be the only
scientist to participate.
"He wasn't picked. That's all I can say about it," Shackelford said.
During the dig, agents extracted 80 percussion caps, parts of a firearm,
lead straps, polished stones, a horn, and human molars from a young adult.
Then they found the skull, which Matovich quickly recognized as American
Indian because of its distinctive cranial features. A large brass bucket
fitted with a handle and chain, which an evaluator considered to be a rare
antique in excellent condition, bore an 1865 patent date.
These items roughly date the man's demise to the mid-to-late 19th
century. The FBI transferred custody of the "evidence" to the BLM, which
took the items to Utah Museum of Natural History on April 18 for
"observational analysis" and "curation," as well as storage for up to one
year while the bones go through a tribal repatriation process, according to
internal documents.
University of Utah scientists and museum officials examined the bones
and Derinna Kopp, a doctoral candidate in anthropology, submitted a written
report, supporting BLM's conclusions that the dead man was not deliberately
interred.
The bones were those of a stocky man, 55 to 65 years old, with active
abscesses eating his badly worn teeth. Osteoarthritis had fused his lumbar
spine and cranial lesions were consistent with iron deficiency that was
common among tribal communities in the 19th century.
The bones showed signs of rodent damage, but no ochre, a yellowish
pigment applied to the dead in Indian burials, according to Matovich's
report. These clues suggest the person was not deliberately buried, but
rather exposed for a period while mice chewed his ribs. The position of the
bones was also important.
"The skeleton was completely collapsed in on itself, with the feet
tucked under the pelvis, indicating the individual was sitting in an upright
squatting or kneeling position at the time of death," Matovich wrote. Her
report does not determine the cause of death, although no traumatic injury
was noted other than minor breaks that could have occurred postmortem.
Jones said these clues are not conclusive on the key question of burial
because Indians were not always interred with ochre and post-burial rodent
damage can happen.
"Without good stratigraphic work and a soil profile, you can't say how
the body got to where it is now. A lot of things can happen to a body after
it's buried," Jones said.
"He is entitled to his professional opinion," responded BLM spokeswoman
Megan Crandall, herself an archaeologist. "We have here a marriage of law
enforcement and science. . . . We were able to accomplish disparate goals.
This is a situation that should be held up as a positive example. It's
frustrating that it's being spun in a negative light."
Meanwhile, the FBI probe continues, although agents won't reveal what
they are investigating, and the BLM is attempting to identify Escalante
Man's cultural affiliation. The agency's goal is getting the remains to his
tribe or descendants who most likely will return them to the earth.
Bones and the law
The excavation of historic American Indian remains implicates at least
two Utah statutes and three federal laws enacted to ensure the preservation
of the nation's cultural resources. These laws reflect a consensus among
policymakers that American Indian artifacts are a national treasure, which
had been long abused by souvenir hunters and early archaeologists. These
objects hold deep spiritual significance for the nation's tribes and should
be treated with the utmost respect, says NAGPRA. Accordingly, agencies have
72 hours to notify tribes after learning that remains have been found on
federal land.
* The 1966 National Historic Preservation Act (BACPRA) requires federal
agencies to consult with appropriate state and tribal officers before making
a final decision on actions that affects historical values.
* The 1979 Archaeological Resources Protection Act establishes a
permitting process for excavating Indian artifacts on federal lands.
* The 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (as
well as a Utah version of this law applicable to state lands) requires
agencies to determine the cultural affiliation of any remains found on
federal lands and return them to the appropriate tribe.
* State law criminalizes grave desecration.