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'Ceramics' at federal auction turn out to be human skulls
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-204skulls,0,5154600.story?coll=sfla-news-broward
'Ceramics' sold at federal auction in S. Florida turn out to be human skulls
Associated Press
Posted February 4 2004, 8:22 AM EST
CLEVELAND -- A collection of ceramics sold during a U.S. government auction in South Florida include human skulls, but their origin remains unknown.
Dr. Heather Raaf, chief deputy coroner in Cuyahoga County, said a forensic anthropologist examined the skulls Tuesday and determined they are human. She said each is a partial skull that may at some point have been buried.
``We had an anthropologist look at them and he said they are all definitely human, but they are old. They are not people who recently died. We think they had been buried and somehow unearthed, because they were weathered, and there was some moss and mold on them,'' Raaf said.
She said that in the skull parts observed there is ``no sign of violence or injury.'' The federal government is trying to check records to find out the source of the skulls, said Cherise Miles, a Chicago spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Miles said the items were sold Jan. 15 at an auction at the Broward Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale by auctioneering contractor EG&G Technical Services, which would have inspected and priced the lot identified as ``clay artifacts and assorted items.'' She said the skulls were part of a lot that sold for about,000.'Ceramics' sold at federal auction in S. Florida turn out to be human skulls
Associated Press
Posted February 4 2004, 8:22 AM EST
CLEVELAND -- A collection of ceramics sold during a U.S. government auction in South Florida include human skulls, but their origin remains unknown.
Dr. Heather Raaf, chief deputy coroner in Cuyahoga County, said a forensic anthropologist examined the skulls Tuesday and determined they are human. She said each is a partial skull that may at some point have been buried.
``We had an anthropologist look at them and he said they are all definitely human, but they are old. They are not people who recently died. We think they had been buried and somehow unearthed, because they were weathered, and there was some moss and mold on them,'' Raaf said.
She said that in the skull parts observed there is ``no sign of violence or injury.'' The federal government is trying to check records to find out the source of the skulls, said Cherise Miles, a Chicago spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Miles said the items were sold Jan. 15 at an auction at the Broward Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale by auctioneering contractor EG&G Technical Services, which would have inspected and priced the lot identified as ``clay artifacts and assorted items.'' She said the skulls were part of a lot that sold for about $1,000.
Britney Sheehan, a spokeswoman for EG&G in Miami, said Tuesday the contractor did not know skulls were in the lot. She said the items were provided by U.S. Customs officials.
``In the paperwork they were labeled as gifts,'' she said.
She did not know the origin.
``I'd say it's a 95 percent logical assumption it came from another country,'' she said.
Photos released Tuesday by police in Brook Park, a Cleveland suburb, show at least two skulls and a ceramic head.
The skulls were discovered Friday at a warehouse for Marc's discount stores in the Cleveland area. Warehouse employees called police when a carton of what they thought was holding ceramic figurines revealed bone where one had cracked.
But Raaf said only some of the figurines were intact and some were just skulls.
Britney Sheehan, a spokeswoman for EG&G in Miami, said Tuesday the contractor did not know skulls were in the lot. She said the items were provided by U.S. Customs officials.
``In the paperwork they were labeled as gifts,'' she said.
She did not know the origin.
``I'd say it's a 95 percent logical assumption it came from another country,'' she said.
Photos released Tuesday by police in Brook Park, a Cleveland suburb, show at least two skulls and a ceramic head.
The skulls were discovered Friday at a warehouse for Marc's discount stores in the Cleveland area. Warehouse employees called police when a carton of what they thought was holding ceramic figurines revealed bone where one had cracked.
But Raaf said only some of the figurines were intact and some were just skulls.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-204skulls,0,5154600.story?coll=sfla-news-broward