Human bones, including skulls that state reporting says may be about a century old, have been spotted eroding from a New Hanover County shoreline and pulled from the water by the Wilmington Police Department. The remains were first reported on April 16 and, after the N.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the discovery was not criminal, they were turned over to state archaeologists for study under laws that protect unmarked graves.
According to The Charlotte Observer, the N.C. Department of Natural & Cultural Resources said the bones were found “eroding from the shoreline” at an undisclosed spot in New Hanover County and were recovered by Wilmington police. Local reporting has placed at least some of the remains along the Intracoastal Waterway, and state officials say the Office of State Archaeology has taken custody of the material. No official estimate of the remains’ age has been released.
What The Law Requires
Under North Carolina’s Unmarked Human Burial and Human Skeletal Remains Protection Act, once a discovery is determined not to be part of a criminal investigation, responsibility shifts to the State Archaeologist. As outlined in the North Carolina General Statutes, if analysis shows the remains are Native American, the N.C. Commission of Indian Affairs must be consulted about their “ultimate disposition.” The law also directs the State Archaeologist to curate skeletal remains when no next of kin is identified after adequate analysis.
State Archaeologists Take Custody
The N.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner concluded the find was not criminal and transferred control of the material to the State Archaeologist on April 22. The Office of State Archaeology then took physical custody of the remains on April 24, as reported by WECT. Officials have not revealed the exact discovery site, saying only that the bones were collected from a shoreline area. From here, specialists are expected to conduct skeletal analysis and other tests to determine the age of the remains and any possible cultural affiliation.
Coastal Erosion Keeps Turning Up Surprises
Shoreline erosion and shifting tides along the North Carolina coast have been coughing up all kinds of buried material in recent years, sometimes including human and animal remains that force agencies into quick response mode. Erosion recently exposed a buried whale on the Outer Banks, an episode that conservation officials and local leaders flagged as a fresh example of what shifting shorelines can uncover, The Charlotte Observer reported. Scientists say stronger storms and rising seas are raising the odds that old burials or artifacts will surface along the coast.
State officials stress that if you come across suspected human remains, the move is not to play detective. Do not touch or move anything; instead, contact local law enforcement so the medical examiner and the Office of State Archaeology can be notified and specialists can respond, as required by state law. As the North Carolina General Statutes spell out, law enforcement, the medical examiner and state archaeologists coordinate on identification, analysis and, when appropriate, consultation with tribes. State officials say that as of their most recent statements, no identification or firm age estimate for the Wilmington-area remains had been released.
