Archaeologists surveying a property earmarked for a suburban housing development discovered an ancient American Indian skull.
The Suffolk County medical examiner's office determined on Thursday that the skull dated back 1 000 to 3 000 years.
The skull, unearthed on Wednesday, was given to the Shinnecock Indian Nation in nearby Southampton for reburial, the Town of Southampton police said.
The town requires archaeologists to study land for American Indian artifacts before development can begin because of the centuries-old history of the Shinnecock tribe on the shores of Eastern Long Island, outside New York City.
The Shinnecock Nation has 1 300 members, 600 of whom live on a 480-hectare reservation adjacent to the Town of Southampton.
That's (pretty much) the whole thing. Neat, huh? A South African news service reports on a skull found in NY.