The Cupertino Courier

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American Indian remains unearthed by work crew

By Cody Kraatz

A resident near downtown Sunnyvale unearthed the partial remains of three prehistoric American Indians in his back yard on July 26, officials said. The Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety stopped investigating the case after Lorna Pierce, a consultant in forensic anthropology to the Santa Clara County medical examiner-coroner, identified the remains.

Pierce went to the site, found that landscapers who were digging a fishpond had removed the bones and ordered them to stop working, as state law mandates.

"When bones are found and there's even a suspicion they might be human, work is supposed to stop and the coroner's office called," she said. "It is a felony to knowingly disturb a prehistoric American burial."

The California Native American Heritage Commission is in the process of designating a most likely descendant to decide what to do with the remains, said Debbie Treadway, an environmental scientist with the commission.

The preference is to leave remains on the same site, but where they will not be disturbed. But the descendant and property owner could agree to bury the remains elsewhere.

It is unknown exactly how old the bones are because testing will only be done at the descendant's request. The Muwekma Ohlone lived in the Sunnyvale area at the time of contact with Spanish explorers, Pierce said.

"People have been living in this valley for over 7,000 years, so it's not uncommon for people to find remains. Think of how many hundreds of thousands of people that's been over that time period. You would expect to find burials," said Pierce.