Willow Glen Resident
News
Human remains found on Coolidge are from Muwekma Ohlone tribe
By Mayra Flores De Marcotte
A human skeleton found by PG&E three months ago was placed under the care of the Muwekma Ohlone tribe.
A PG&E tractor was digging a trench in the street at 1170 Coolidge Ave. to examine underground utilities on the morning of Sept. 12, when the tractor hit an unexpected bump. The three-man PG&E crew went into the 4-foot hole, scraped away some soil and discovered human remains.
The tribe's senior archeologist and anthropologist Alan Leventhal is now monitoring the rest of the PG&E trench work in case any additional remains are uncovered.
The individual unearthed was an adult male, probably over 35, Leventhal said, but the age of the skeleton has not been confirmed.
"The bones were badly damaged by the excavating machinery," Leventhal said. "It impacted and broke up the mid-section of the skeleton, including the long bones such as the humerus and femur."
The archeologist will have to reconstitute the bones and take measurements to try to determine the individual's stature.
"We're pretty sure he was a robust guy," Leventhal said.
He said that this undermines the belief that native Californians were not tall.
"It's the myth that they're small men," he said, "but we have encountered Ohlone men in excess of 6 feet."
Pinpointing the timeframe in history that the remains belong to, however, has proven to be more elusive.
"There weren't any diagnostic artifacts, or time-sensitive artifacts found with the skeletal remains," he said.
Shell pendants and arrowheads are both examples of possible diagnostic artifacts that are normally found with ancient remains, he said.
Carbon dating is part of the next phase, but he doesn't expect to have the results of this method of dating the bones until January.
The archeologist would also like to do a DNA test on the remains but fears it unlikely.
In the past, Native Americans weren't allowed to perform DNA tests on potential tribal remains if they weren't scientists, he said.
At the very least, Leventhal wants to save a remnant of the bone for future DNA testing.
No plans are yet set for the reburial of the remains.
