Bones of three prehistoric American Indians found in the basement

Bones found in the basement of an Albany barbershop belong to three prehistoric American Indians, Delaware County Coroner Jim Clevenger said.

"Suffice to say, no one was murdered in the last couple of years," Clevenger said.

While officials have identified who the bones belonged to, how the bones ended up in the basement of a downtown Albany building where Gary Engelbrecht runs Fading Tradition barbershop remains a mystery.

The building housed a bank until 1965 and has been an insurance office, a consignment shop and an apartment in later years.

Engelbrecht discovered a bone in a basement vault shortly after he moved in about a year ago. He had entered the basement to check on a sump pump.

With 4-foot ceilings, standing water and a collapsed staircase, the basement looks like a scene from The Blair Witch Project.

"It was eerie," Engelbrecht said.

Engelbrecht meant to tell authorities but forgot until he was cutting Clevenger's hair around September.

Clevenger launched an investigation, involving local police and uncovering 125 bone fragments in and around a disintegrating cardboard box.

Clevenger sent the bones to Stephen Nawrocki, a board certified forensic anthropologist with the University of Indianapolis.

Nawrocki analyzed the bones and a tooth and issued a report this month, announcing the remains belonged to "prehistoric Native Americans," Clevenger said.

Clevenger said he believed the bones to be several hundred years old and suggested Nawrocki could provide The Star Press with a more precise age estimate.

Nawrocki was out of town Tuesday and could not be reached for comment.

Beth McCord, director of the Ball State University Archaeology Resources Management Service, however, was able to define "prehistoric" as the time before European contact, or any time between 11,000 years ago and 500 years ago.

The group of three skeletons included at least one male and one female, Clevenger said.

The three American Indians were believed to have died sometime after the age of 45 and showed no signs of traumatic injury at the time of death.

The bones had been the source of a lot of speculation in the town of 2,000 since their discovery was first published in The Star Press in January.

Clive Hamlyn, pastor of Albany United Methodist Church, said he was amazed to learn the age of the bones and hoped they would find a resting place that respected native culture.

"It just shows that there's a history that goes back way beyond what is commonly seen," he said.

Clevenger will work with the State Archaeologist and American Indian authorities to determine what should happen to the bone fragments.

Until that time, the bones will remain secured at the University of Indianapolis.

Clevenger investigates about 30 calls a year from people who have discovered bones, but the overwhelming majority end up being deer or livestock bones.

The Albany bones mark the third time in the past nine years that Clevenger has investigated the discovery of actual human bones.

The other two incidents involved a skeleton that had been used for teaching anatomy and a homeless man.

Bones found by a hunter April 22 near Bloomington were also recently determined to have come from prehistoric American Indians.

Clevenger pointed out the Albany bones were discovered in Delaware Township in Delaware County, both of which are named after an American Indian tribe, in the state of Indiana.

"It should not be that surprising," he said. "In fact, it's a wonder it doesn't happen more often."

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