Mystery of skulls buried in Florida back yard that are dated from 1200AD and are of South American descent (and they're all missing their jaw bones)

Gary Dee Mon 24 Dec - 11:20

Skulls found buried in a Florida back yard have been dated to 1200-1400 AD, authorities said yesterday.

The skulls, of a man and ten-year-old boy, were believed to be from Peru or another region of South America almost 900 years ago.

The bones were found at a home in Winter Garden, Florida in January when a plumber working on a new swimming pool came across a bone fragment and called the police.

Medical examiner Dr Jan Garavaglia, known as Dr G, discovered human tissue still within the bone, causing concern that it could be a child who had died recently and been buried illegally.

However, the medical examiner also said that the skulls are not from the same time period – in fact, one of them dates to the 1970s.

Dr G told WESH-2 in February that the skulls could have been from a ritual of some kind.

Each of the three skulls were missing their jaw bones, but a newspaper clipping from around 1978 could help add more context to the mysterious craniums.

The clipping was found inside of a purse retrieved from the site.

Scientists discovered an Inca bone which gave a clue to their origin with Florida believed to be the second burial site. The human tissue on the cheek of the skull had been mummified.

Cloth items also found with the bones were ancient purses made of woven material according to archaeologists from University of Central Florida and Yale who had been enlisted to work on the mystery.

Mystery of skulls buried in Florida back yard that are dated from 1200AD and are of South American descent (and they're all missing their jaw bones) Article-2144525-1317EA41000005DC-418_306x423

Although they may never get to the bottom of how the skulls ended up in this area of Florida, the items could have been brought back to the U.S. as holiday souvenirs at a time when it was more acceptable.

It is now illegal to transport bones.

Ms Garavaglia told ABC: Another possibility is that it used to be a migrant farm worker camp, and some cultures will bring part of their heritage with them when they leave. It could be that they were moving on and decided to bury it there.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2144525/Mystery-skulls-buried-Florida-yard-date-1200AD-South-American-descent.html