By Lora Oehlberg

Town Crier Editorial Intern

A Los Altos resident turned in a box of bones to the Los Altos Police Department Dec. 7. The bones were initially discovered in the late 1950s in Mountain View, at the former Mayfield Mall site at San Antonio and Central Expressway.

“The reporting party’s father was a developer and found the bones during the excavation of the site,” said Sgt. Tom Connolly of the Los Altos Police Department.

The police turned the bones over to the county coroner. “The coroner has a forensic anthropologist who will examine the bones to determine their origin. Assuming they are American Indian, the coroner will turn them over to the proper American Indian group for reburial,” Connolly said.

Dr. Lorna Pierce, the forensic anthropologist who works with the county coroner, examined and identified the bones as prehistoric Native American bones. Two artifacts turned in with the bones were identified as a serrated scraper and a charm stone.

“The bones are in an excellent state of preservation. They are very similar to other prehistoric burials found in this area, and the artifacts are also consistent with those found in this area,” Pierce said.

The Native American commission will handle the repatriation of those bones to the Native American community.

The Mayfield Mall closed in the early 1980s and was replaced by Hewlett-Packard offices. HP recently announced it was leaving the site.