Bones Dug From Park Dated 4,000 Years Old : Archeology: Another set of human remains were estimated to be 2,000 years old. The finds were reburied without testing.

As with many amateur archeologists, Sam Massey’s claims of finding ancient human remains in a regional park were met with initial skepticism. But this time, his find proved true.

After heavy rains fell in Aliso Viejo last October, Massey, of Laguna Hills, headed off-trail in Aliso and Wood Canyons Regional Park. He began searching newly exposed layers of dirt by the creek.

“I look for opportunities like that,” he said. In two days, he found three areas with human bones.

“I had to be careful” of legal and religious regulations. Massey contacted the Orange County Natural History Assn., several museums and various professional archeologists for three months. But nobody believed him, he said.

Finally, the history association asked its former curator, environmental data systems archeologist Gary Hurd, to go take a look with Massey.

“It’s usually a sheep or deer,” Hurd said of people’s claims of finding archeological artifacts. “Most folks see big bones and think it’s human. In this case, Massey was correct.”

Hurd contacted the county’s park services, the coroner and the Juaneno Native Americans’ tribal council. The finding led to a search conducted by archeologists this month in Aliso and Wood Canyons Regional Park, where they found more of the remains of a couple estimated to be at least 4,000 years old, said Huntington Beach archeologist Mike Macko.

Macko, who led the 10-day search requested by the county, said the five-member team found a skull and left arm of an apparent male, and most of the remains of an apparent female. The two appeared to have been buried together, although no burial artifacts were found. Estimates of carbon levels in the soil led to the 4,000-year age estimate.

The group, which consisted of Macko and two of his staff members plus two representatives of the Juaneno tribe, also found the remains of two other, younger humans scattered separately about 200 feet from the couple. Macko estimated these humans, who apparently were buried in fetal positions rather than straight like the couple, at 2,000 years old or less.

Of the older two, Macko said: “The uniqueness is not only that the female is intact except for a lower limb . . . but that these two were at a relatively young age when they died, even considering the shorter life span. They were clearly in their prime.”

He added, “There are so many things we’d like to ask of these remains, but we’re restricted.”

He was referring to rights of the Juanenos under state law to have the remains reburied without testing, because they might be ancestors of that tribe. But, he said, “they deserve to be put back to rest.”

Local Native American representatives have determined in this case to rebury the bones away from the creek.

The 3,400-acre park has many California oaks, whose acorns were a staple of ancient inhabitants of the area, said Tim Miller, regional manager. He said that the exact location of the site would be kept secret. “We don’t want anybody knowing the location and going there to dig for bones,” he said.

The archeological findings are no surprise, said Macko, who is waiting for the monthlong specific soil analyses to come in. Soil samples could help determine diet, climate and other information, said Hurd. For instance, pollen could be found in soil taken from abdominal areas of the remains, indicating what season it was.

Because Aliso Creek is used so extensively for flood control drainage, much of its banks have been eroded and many of the bones were lost that way, Macko said. “It’s unfortunate the erosion results in more damage like this.”

Massey said he took care not to break the law in terms of disturbing the sites where he first found the remains.

He added that though he wouldn’t want to see the remains disturbed for research, he regrets what won’t be learned.

“The bones belong back in the ground,” Massey said. “But the information belongs to everybody.”