Bone Discovery May Delay Bolsa Chica Development : Archeology: Native American leaders say Huntington Beach site could include an ancient burial ground. Studies will determine if remains are animal or human.

A study commissioned by the Orange County coroner’s office has confirmed that there are more than 20 concentrations of bones in the path of a major housing development proposed near the Bolsa Chica wetlands in Huntington Beach.

It could be months before officials determine whether the bones are human or animal. One set of human bones believed to be about 8,000 years old was found at the site in 1992. And word of the latest discovery has lent credence to the arguments of Native American leaders, who believe the 7.4-acre parcel may have been an ancient burial site.

“If it’s a dedicated cemetery, that’s it,” said Jim Velasques, chief of the coastal Gabrieleno Shoshone tribe. “It’s sacred. You cannot dig up bones if you have six or more burials without the consent of the descendants.”

However, officials with the Koll Real Estate Group, which is planning the project, said the latest finding would not affect the 4,286-home development proposed for 400 acres near the wetlands.

“There’s no question that the site is of great importance to the ancient history of Orange County,” said Lucy Dunn, a senior vice president. “But we’ve designed the most sensitive plan that can possibly be designed. . . . It’s not likely that a redesign will be necessary.”

The coroner’s office confirmed information contained in a map detailing at least 20 sites where bone matter has been found. The map was prepared for Koll by Nancy Whitney-Desautels, an archeologist excavating the site.

While state law does not expressly forbid the destruction of Native American cemeteries, experts say, public pressure could persuade county officials to require the developer to make major modifications in the project in order to preserve the site.

The issue arose last month when opponents of the project began circulating a memo written by a forensic anthropologist hired by the Orange County coroner’s office to examine the bones found in 1992. In the memo, Judy Myers Suchey, a faculty member at Cal State Fullerton, described the handful of human bones she had seen as “very old, approximately 8,000 years,” and therefore of serious interest to archeologists.

Angered that no mention of the find had been made in the county’s draft environmental impact report released last year, project opponents gathered during a city hearing on the matter that attracted 600 residents. Over the weekend, a group of Native Americans staged a protest on the steps of City Hall, contending that they had been left in the dark regarding the disposition of their ancestors’ remains.

Copies of the map, which had not previously been made public, were circulated at the demonstration. Prepared last August, the map indicates locations described as “known bone concentrations.”

What is not clear, Whitney-Desautels said Monday, is how many of the bones are animal and how many human. She did not rule out the possibility that the area was a Native American cemetery. She described it as “a difficult case” because the human remains discovered so far are tiny and intermingled with animal bones.

A spokesman for the coroner’s office said that about 50% of bones reported to the sheriff turn out to be those of animals. According to Whitney-Desautels, two of the bone concentrations at Bolsa Chica have already been determined to be those of deer and dolphin. The rest are being examined in laboratories.

“We should know in about three months,” she said. “At this point it’s impossible to say how many (human) individuals are there.”

The findings seemed to have clear implications for Native Americans.

“These are the bones of our great ancestors,” said Martin Alcala, chairman of the Gabrieleno-Tongva Tribal Council. “They are culturally and spiritually significant to us. It would be the same as if we went into your graveyards and started digging up your ancestors.”