oddly enough

oddly enough

Skull nearly sold as Gettysburg soldier’s is 700 years old

GETTYSBURG, Pa.

Experts say a skull nearly auctioned off as that of a Civil War soldier killed at Gettysburg is actually more than 700 years old and from the Southwestern U.S.

The National Parks Service said recently that forensic anthropologists determined the skull is from the late 1200s and belonged to a Native American man in his early-to-mid-20s.

A company that nearly auctioned the skull last year said notarized documents showed it was discovered on a Gettysburg farm.

Estate Auction Co. canceled the Hagerstown, Md., auction in June amid public outcry and donated the skull to the Parks Service.

Gettysburg National Military Park’s Katie Lawhon says law enforcement is investigating circumstances of the confusion over the skull’s origin.

The Parks Service says it’s still deciding what to do with the remains.

Officer stumbles upon $33,000 in artwork at old meth lab

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

An Albuquerque officer searching a former meth lab stumbled upon artwork by late-American Indian artist Al Momaday that was worth more than $30,000 and likely was stolen, police said.

Police said the officer found the valuable prints recently during a protective sweep of the condemned apartment right before city officials were to board up the property. Authorities say the building was deemed uninhabitable for two years after the discovery of a methamphetamine lab.

According to police, the officer spotted an art portfolio case containing Momaday prints on the floor. The officer googled Momaday’s name and discovered he was a Mountain View, Okla.-born Kiowa painter who died in 1981.

“Knowing this, and knowing all the history about this apartment, I knew [whoever] left this property behind had no lawful reason to be in possession of this [artwork],” the officer wrote in his report.

The officer took the prints to an Albuquerque Museum curator who valued them at $33,000.

Investigators believe the art might have been stolen while on loan. They still are trying to determine who it belongs to and what to do with it.

Momaday’s paintings depicting his Native American heritage have gained international acclaim and are featured in galleries around the country. He also created plaques for Albuquerque churches.

A teacher, Momaday married Natachee Scott at Jemez Pueblo and helped bring Native American art lessons to New Mexico.

He is the father of N. Scott Momaday, the first American Indian to win a Pulitzer Prize for literature.

No arrests have been made. The case remains under investigation.

Associated Press