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Prehistoric human remains found along Michigan Lake park

Posted at 4:32 PM, Dec 25, 2020
and last updated 2020-12-25 16:32:35-05

EMPIRE, Mich. (AP) — Officials are communicating with Native American groups to help decide what to do next with prehistoric human remains found along a Michigan Lake shoreline in a northwestern Michigan park.

MLive.com reported that a visitor found the remains in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore three years ago, took them out of the park and then returned them a year later.

Examinations at a medical examiner’s office and further analysis of the bones at Western Michigan University helped identify them as prehistoric remains most likely tied to prehistoric Native American populations.

The park’s superintendent, Scott Tucker, said the goal was to "respect the ancestral remains that were found, and let the tribes determine the next steps.”