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Human remains found in Arizona look to be about 1800 years old

Human remains found by two children playing in the desert hills in northwestern Arizona last year are believed to be that of an American Indian man who lived about 1800 years ago, a local anthropologist says.

Giving an approximate date to the largely complete skeletal remains, which were recovered in an area southeast of Colorado City, was only accomplished recently, said Amy Kelly-McLaughlin, the anthropologist who examined them. She specializes in vertebrate forensic taphonomy, the study of ancient remains.

But the Flagstaff, Arizona-based Kelly-McLaughlin, who was hired by the Mohave County Medical Examiner’s Office to find out more about the remains, said the results validate her initial impression.

"The minute I opened the box with the bones I knew it was prehistoric," she said in a phone interview. "There was just no doubt in my mind that it is."