Native American Cemetery Evidence Found at Koll Site

New disclosures about human bones unearthed at the Bolsa Chica wetlands have provided evidence that the site was once a Native American cemetery and raised further questions about proposed development there.

The disclosures, which surfaced this week, came as the Orange County Grand Jury announced it would not pursue an investigation into how the Koll Real Estate Group, which owns most of the property, has handled the discovery of the bones.

The probe was requested by the Huntington Beach City Council in February after allegations by Native Americans and others that the Koll group had mishandled the bones, which had been discovered by archeologists.

The company plans to build 4,286 homes at the site, a controversial development that could be delayed by evidence showing that it was a cemetery.

It has been learned that the bones included four intact craniums and the femurs of at least 20 individuals. An archeological map dated March 1 noted some bones were found in graves containing enough skeletal remains to indicate that the bodies were in a fetal position.

Nancy Desautels, the archeologist in charge of the project, said Wednesday that the evidence suggests a prehistoric Native American cemetery.

“More than one individual means it was planned land use,” she said. “If you find more than one, obviously they intended it as a plot to inter individuals.”

Company officials had previously described the site as containing only scattered “bone fragments” of an unknown number of people.

The new information was contained in documents circulated by Samuel H. Dunlap, a former Native American monitor for the company who said he became disillusioned when the Koll group would not follow his suggestion to expand excavations in anticipation of further finds.

Dunlap could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

But Lucy Dunn, the company’s senior vice president, characterized the argument as a dispute over the former monitor’s request for a 50% pay increase--from $200 to $300 a day.

“It appears to be a money issue, not an issue of substance,” she said.

Meanwhile, the significance of the discovery was not lost upon the Bolsa Chica Land Trust, which opposes the proposed residential development on the property.

Flossie Horgan, spokeswoman for the land trust, said Wednesday that “these are 8,000-year-old prehistoric remains we have in our midst. It is not appropriate to build 5,000 homes over this ancient site and have this lost to future generations.”

Besides the release of new archeological information, there was other news this week as it was learned the grand jury had declined to investigate the Koll group.

“We have determined that this concerns a complex set of problems involving the United States government, the state of California, the Coastal Commission and the Koll company,” Raymond B. Arballo, chair of the grand jury’s environment/transportation committee, wrote in a May 27 letter.

“The grand jury has no jurisdiction over any of these entities,” the letter continued. “The Orange County agencies involved in this matter appear to have acted in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.”