Human Skull Found in Ames Probably Hundreds of Years Old

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State investigators have yet to determine the age of a human skull discovered by a canoeist near the Skunk River July 2.

Ames Police CMDR. Geoff Huff said they believe the skull to be hundreds of years old but a state forensic anthropologist plans to study the piece of skull and bone fragment to determine its age.

A woman canoeing along the Skunk River spotted the skull in a sandbar near the former Carr Pool in Ames and took it home before calling police about 8 p.m. July 2.

She was able to take police to the sand bar and police saw an impression of the skull in the sand and found another bone fragment nearby, Huff said.

The area had been under water recently and the skull probably washed downstream in heavy rains, Huff said.

The McMicheal Cemetery near Peterson Pits sits on the Skunk River north of the find and Iowa State University had a dig site near the area in the 1970s, Huff has been told.

The skull was not fully intact and was missing all facial bones below the eye sockets.

“It's not matching any missing persons we have right now,” Huff said.