Hikers find skeletal remains

(Fayetteville-AP) -- A University of Arkansas researcher said yesterday bones found in Washington County appear to be those of American Indians from more than 200 years ago. <br><br>Lieutenant Lonnie

Tuesday, March 7th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Fayetteville-AP) -- A University of Arkansas researcher said yesterday bones found in Washington County appear to be those of American Indians from more than 200 years ago.

Lieutenant Lonnie Nichols of the Washington County sheriff's office says two men on an arrowhead hunting expedition Saturday discovered as many as four sets of human bones. He says the bones were found in a cave on private property about two miles from the Bobby Hopper Tunnel on Interstate 540.

Kathy Murray, a forensic anthropologist at the university, examined the bones for the sheriff's office. She says she must obtain permission from a Native American representative to do a complete analysis.

Murray says she concluded the remains were that of Native Americans because of the way the bones had been buried and the condition of the teeth. She says the bones were found in an overhanging bluff and appeared to have been moved, maybe as recently as ten years ago.

She says the bodies had apparently been buried directly in the ground and not in a coffin, as was the practice for most settlers.