Police thought a suspicious package left on the steps of the University of Utah's Museum of Natural History might contain a bomb. But an X-ray revealed the bones of a 1,000-year-old mummy.
Authorities say the remains, packed into a Sears color television box, likely belong to member of the ancient Anasazi Indian tribe. Anthropologists and pathologists say the rare find is among the best preserved they have seen.Law officers believe looters carried the mummy from its burial cave in the southwest desert, where the Anasazi or "Ancient Ones," farmed and hunted from about 600 A.D. until 1350 A.D.
Anthropologists say the Anasazi are the ancestors of the Hopi and Pueblo Indians of today.
Second thoughts and stiff penalties for pilfering Indian artifacts on federal or Indian lands probably led the anonymous finders to "donate" the remains to the museum, said University of Utah Police Chief Wayne Shepherd.
The chief said a museum secretary received an anonymous call Oct. 11 from a woman who said her husband had found the mummy, knew having it was illegal and wondered whether the museum wanted it. The caller told the employee to look on the back steps and hung up, Shepherd said.
Police were called and X-rays showed vague outlines of bones instead of a bomb's wires and batteries.
Utah State Medical Examiner Dr. Todd Grey said he found the mummy in "remarkable" shape given its apparent age.
"It's a very rare find," added University of Utah anthropologist John McCullough. "We have very few specimens of that time period available."
The professor said much valuable data was lost, however, because the burial site is unknown.
"It's unfortunate from two aspects. Foremost is that a burial was disturbed in a most unceremonious way. It's desecration," he said. "Second is that from an archaeological standpoint, whatever information we could have gleaned has been largely lost."
Thousands of ancient Indian dwellings scattered throughout the southwestern United States attract artifact hunters. Looting and damage to potentially significant archaeological sites has led to laws prohibiting scavenging on federal lands.
The mummy was folded into a fetal position and covered with a woven robe. Feathers or tufts of rabbit fur covered the lower extremities. The skull, apparently severed during excavation, lay amid polystryrene packing material between the feet.
The torso and legs were covered with brown, parchment-like skin. Fingernails and toenails were still evident.
"We don't see mummified remains that often," Grey said. "I see homicide victims who have been dead for two or three years, and they're bones.
"This is a really nice example of what can happen to human remains in a dry, warm and protected environment," he said.
McCullough credited the corpse's desiccated condition to the Anasazi burial practice of placing the dead in caves away from predators and the elements. Grey said a cave's constant temperature and humidity enhance mummification.
That state of preservation has allowed Grey and McCullough to draw a few conclusions about the mummy and its culture.
"But it's hard to get too specific," Grey said. Mostly because artifacts from the gravesite or its location were not available, added McCullough.
While the exact age of the remains isn't known, McCullough estimates it falls somewhere between 800 and 1200 A.D.
The flattened back of the head means the remains are Native American, Grey said, because early Indians often strapped their infants to flat cradle boards. The size and shape of the skull indicate the mummy is probably female, although the face and several significant bone structures were shattered.
A large hole was smashed in the top of the skull and several smaller holes - perhaps from a pitchfork or other digging tool - were found, he said.
The mummy is small, also indicating a female, but both Grey and McCullough note the Anasazi were a small race.
The best indicator of sex would be the shape of the pelvis but a closer examination might further damage the brittle remains, he said.
McCullough, who contracts with the medical examiner's office as a forensic anthropologist, believes the mummy is female and was old - perhaps in her 60s.
X-rays and a CT scan showed three collapsed vertebrae and arthritis that would have forced her to walk hunched over, he said.
McCullough said the robe was made of twine woven with either rabbit fur or turkey feathers. It has been given to an expert at the Museum of Natural History for dating and analysis.
"It's typical of the sophisticated weaving we've seen from that culture," McCullough said.
Following the analysis, the remains will be returned to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for reburial.