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Richmond Times Dispatch A human skeleton spotted Aug. 20 by a boy in his backyard along the York River still is awaiting examination. Officials are trying to determine whether the case is going to be investigated further for criminal activity or whether the remains are the latest batch of old bones to turn up unexpectedly. "What you have is not an unusual occurrence," said Randy Turner, director of the district office in Newport News for the state Department of Historic Resources. "Given the location, that's definitely a very historical area." The skeletal remains are likely from a crime scene; a historical burial site for European settlers, American citizens or slaves; or an American Indian burial site. The area where the remains were found is near the confluence of Timberneck Creek and the York River, a site once believed to have been the area where Powhatan, the paramount chief and father of Pocahontas, was based. The site of his village, Werowocomoco, has been located farther up the York River at Purtan Bay. But the area where the skeletal remains were found could have been home to members of the Powhatan tribes, making a nearby burial site plausible. Gravesites turn up frequently in Gloucester, ranging from the low-lying Jenkins Neck area where erosion is churning up gravesites to elsewhere in the county where development has led to disinterments. In 2007, crews digging a road to a subdivision in Gloucester dug up 14 gravesites believed to have been from the 1800s. In 2004 and 2005, archaeological digging preceding construction of a building at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science yielded a 17th-century skull and two other sets of skeletal remains. The remains at the VIMS campus were found beneath a gravel road, buried at different levels. The skull has been dated to 1625 to 1640 and was a European male about 30 to 36 years of age. The skull and other artifacts from the VIMS digs are on display at the "Written in Bone" exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, said Ron Herzick, project manager at VIMS. If the remains found in Gloucester are determined to be American Indian, the state will contact the Virginia Council on Indians to determine which tribe should be contacted for reburial, said Randy Jones, spokesman for the Department of Historic Resources. In other instances, the remains are returned to the landowner for reburial, "possibly on the land and somewhere where there won't be erosion problems," Jones said.
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