OREGON – Native American skeletal remains unearthed during an archaeological survey for the state Route 2 construction project north of Oregon may be up to 8,000 years old.

A skull, pelvic bone and femur were uncovered March 9 by archaeologists doing research in the 5000 block of North Route 2 before the Illinois Department of Transportation begins road construction there.

Ogle County Sheriff Michael Harn was called to the site March 17, south of what is thought to be an Indian burial mound, after an expert determined that the remains were human. They were found in a farm field about 60 feet from the west side of the road, he said Tuesday.

The Illinois State Archaeological Survey team, which is affiliated with the University of Illinois, works for IDOT, finding sites of archaeological value in construction zones. The university called in Julie Bukowski, a physical anthropologist and skeletal analyst from St. Louis, Mo., to examine the find.

The remains may be from the Late Woodland period, from 600 to 800 AD, or they may be much older, said Phil Millhouse, an archaeologist with the ISAS Northern Illinois Field Station in Loves Park.

“We found a Late Woodland component, and then below that a much earlier, archaic component than is 7,000 to 8,000 years old,” Millhouse said. “We don’t know how old [the bones] are.

“They’re ancient and they’re old, but we don’t know which component they go with.”

They were taken to the University of Illinois for further study and possibly a determination of their age.

The archaic component of the dig is that it appears to have a “bundle burial” site, Millhouse said.

Ancient people living in the area were unable to bury their dead during the winter, when the ground was frozen, so in the spring, they gathered the skull and long bones of the deceased for burial. These bones likely came from the same person, he said.

In addition to the remains, the archaeological crew found clusters of chert, or flint debris, spear points, stone tools, and tools for working with hides.

The remains were found buried about 2 feet deep at the base of a large hill. Other artifacts were found 3 to 5 feet deep, he said.

Although finding Native American artifacts in the Rock River Valley is not unusual, this discovery was out of the ordinary, Millhouse said.

“It was unique to get a look at a site that ancient that was preserved in the Rock River Valley,” he said. “When sites are buried like that, they’re hard to find. Finding those kinds of sites are rare.”