Hurricane Nicole could have unearthed a Native American burial web site relationship again lots of of years on a Florida seaside, authorities mentioned.
Six skulls and different smaller bones turned up on Chastain Seashore on South Hutchinson Island, mentioned Martin County Sheriff’s Workplace Chief Deputy John Budensiek.
Beachgoers discovered the stays, Budensiek mentioned.
“Our medical expert’s workplace is saying that they consider the bones are in extra of 200 years of age,” he mentioned, including that investigators consider they would be the stays of Indigenous individuals.
The bones of Native People had been found within the space after Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and Hurricane Dorian in 2019.
“We do consider based mostly on different findings through the years alongside that space that it’s prone to be an previous Indiana burial web site,” he mentioned. “After we are coping with stays like this, we attempt to protect historical past. We aren’t exploring and digging any additional into the world the place the stays had been discovered. We solely recovered what’s been uncovered by the water.”
Budensiek mentioned he’s been in contact with the Seminole Nation of Florida in regards to the discovery. If the location is a Native American burial web site, it’s federally protected, and felony costs can be pursued towards anybody who tries to disturb the world, Budensiek mentioned.
Nobody with the county’s medical expert’s workplace may very well be instantly reached Thursday afternoon.
Hurricane Nicole made landfall on Florida’s Atlantic Coast early Thursday close to the place the stays had been discovered.
The storm landed simply south of Vero Seashore round 3 a.m. ET on the east coast of the Florida Peninsula on North Hutchinson Island with sustained winds estimated to be round 75 mph, the Nationwide Hurricane Middle mentioned.
Graham Lee Brewer contributed.
