By DARYL FARNSWORTH
MODESTO BEE STAFF WRITER
New evidence from a Modesto construction site led officials to believe with more certainty that human bones, found earlier in piles of sand and dirt, are American Indian. A sifting operation on Friday turned up teeth believed to be American Indian, said Huston, a spokesman for the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department and coroner's office.
Upon finding the teeth, the coroner's office shut down the sifting and notified the state's Native American Heritage Commission. Construction can continue around the Village I site, Huston said. "Based on our preliminary examinations, we now believe these are, in fact, Native American remains,” Huston said. "Finding these teeth gave us more conclusive evidence, and we've stopped any further disturbance of the remains as is required by state law."
The sand and dirt piles, 250 tons in all, had been trucked in from a Foster Farms mine near the Merced River in Livingston. The piles sit along Merle Avenue east of Roselle Avenue in a Florsheim Homes subdivision.
The sifting operation began after two students showed up at nearby Ustach Middle School with bones from the construction piles. The students thought they were non-human bones; the teacher thought otherwise and notified authorities.
Monday, a forensic anthropologist from the University of California at Santa Cruz is expected to examine the teeth. "Once we've confirmed our finding, this discovery is no longer a local coroner's case," Huston said.
The commission would be asked to try to determine the ancestry of the remains, and identify the tribe that includes the most likely descendants. The tribe would have 24 hours to make recommendations to the landowner about what to do with the remains.–
If the descendant tribe does not make recommendations, it would be up to the ownerœto rebury the remains in a secure area of the property, Huston said.
If the descendant makes recommendations and the landowner does not accept them, the owner or the descendant may ask the commission to mediate. Huston said it is possible that all of the sand and dirt will have to be trucked back to Livingston.