Monday, January 14, 2008

NAGPRA update American Indians want to rebury remains dug up by Berkeley archaeologists
There is a legend at the University of California, Berkeley, that human bones are stored in the landmark Campanile tower. But university officials say that's not true -- the bones are actually stored beneath Hearst Gymnasium swimming pool.

The remains of about 12,000 American Indians rest in drawers and cabinets in the gym's basement. Many of them were dug up by university archaeologists and have been stored under the pool since the early 1960s.

The bones now are at the center of a dispute between American Indians who want to rebury their ancestors and university officials who have been slow to hand over the remains.


Kind of a goofy article, but it's pretty long. It's full of hanging assertions such as The museum completed the job in 2000, but designated about 80 percent of the remains as "unaffiliated" -- despite archaeological records showing where nearly all the bones were excavated. Maybe because of records showing where nearly all the bones were excavated.