Matt Shaffer of Hudson, Michigan said he “didn’t think much of it” when excavators on his property Nov. 19 asked him if he’d ever found bones on his land.
Shaffer said he uncovered cattle remains three months ago, but as workers digging a pond on Shaffer’s land continued their job, they came across something else. Shaffer said at that point he knew they hadn’t found cow bones.
“You found a skull, didn’t you?” he asked them.
A 400-to-1,000-year-old skull, vertebrae, and perhaps a hip bone were found about a yard deep on Shaffer’s property in Hillsdale County on Nov. 19.
After finding the bones in his backyard, Shaffer said he called the Hudson Police Department, who contacted the Hillsdale County sheriff after visiting Shaffer’s property. They then communicated with Michigan State Police, who sent a trooper to the site.
Unsure if the find resulted from a homicide, Bowman said police treated the site like a crime scene, taping off the area and contacting Michigan State University Associate Professor of Anthropology Todd Fenton to take a look.
“He was able to look at the skull and determine it was prehistoric in nature,” Bowman said.
Police only found bones at the site, not any clothing remains or personal items that typically indicate a crime, Bowman said.
MSU anthropologists presumed the findings came from a Native American man, though they are continuing to analyze the skull before they make a final conclusion. The find is not uncommon in the area.
“I was shocked,” Shaffer said. “I was thankful it wasn’t these younger kids who could’ve been missing since the ’70s.”
When Fenton and his team of forensics anthropologists finish looking at the skeleton, Shaffer said he hopes to return the remains to the tribe from which it came.
Two Native American tribes visited the property Nov. 20 to perform “smudge” ceremonies to put the spirit to rest, Shaffer said. Shaffer doesn’t know what tribes to which the Native Americans belong.
The find is not uncommon, MSP Jackson Post First Lieutenant Kyle Bowman said, because many Native Americans lived in the area. Down S. Meridian Road off Nelson Road, another landowner found a partial skeleton in May 2010.
“The Native Americans informed me that this area, especially my property, is probably an Indian burial site,” Shaffer said.
Out of sensitivity for the Native American community, Shaffer and the police have not released photos of the remains.
“Once they’ve finished looking at it, I’d like it given back to the American Indians where it belongs,” Shaffer said.
