14 DAY TRIAL // A 14-year-old boy from Salt Lake City was digging a trout pond in his father's backyard when he made an unusual discovery. He stumbled across the bones of an American Indian who lived about 1,000 years ago.
When ninth grader Ali Erturk found the first bone, he thought it was an animal bone, but after digging deeper, the boy discovered another piece which was clearly a human skull.
“When I saw it looked like a human skull, then it definitely was a bit creepy. … It kind of stayed in the back of my mind even when I wasn't digging the pond, going to sleep, it was in the back of my mind that it was human remains,” the boy said, according to Outside Online.
The youngster details that he was expanding a section of the pond to make it a bit deeper when he stumbled across the eerie discovery, which turned his home renovation project into an official investigation. He adds that he found the first bone about 6 feet (1.82 meters) below the surface.
Local officials came to Ali's father's house and collected the remains. After further examination, they confirmed that the boy had discovered an archaeological site – an Indian burial that appears to be 1,000 years old, and that the bones were actually from a human body.
However, they determined the two pieces of bone were artifacts, not evidence of some crime.
“Humans have occupied this valley for up to 10,000 years. We do run into situations where progress runs into the ancient past,” said Geoffrey Fattah, spokeman for Utah Department of Heritage and Arts.
Fattah informs that the site will be examined by archaeologists, and experts from the state's Department of Indian Affairs will try to determine whether the burial site has links to existing tribes. Moreover, a forensic anthropologist will analyze the remains unearthed by Erturk to find out more information about the background of the skeleton, including its gender and cultural affiliation.
It seems that this is not the first discovery of this type in Utah. Fattah revealed that other Native American graves were previously unearthed in private properties around the city, as groups like the Shoshone and the Utes had lived there for 10,000 years. Apparently, the department receives five to seven reports of ancient remains statewide each year.
Officials advise the public to contact law enforcement authorities if they happen to find human remains, so they can be removed professionally and respectfully.