Bones Won’t Be Buried Yet

Two 9,000-year-old skeletons will be held by University of California, San Diego, officials—rather than turned over to American Indians for reburial—until a lawsuit is settled.

Written byJef Akst

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Grave in the NederlandsWIKIMEDIA COMMONS, VINCENT DE GROOT

The bones of two 9,000-year-old skeletons will remain above ground for at least a little while longer, thanks to a United States district court judge who signed an injunction this week (May 7) to extend a temporary restraining order keeping the bones in the custody of University of California, San Diego, officials until a case over the bones is settled, ScienceInsider reported.

For the past 6 years, since their discovery in 2006 during excavation of the UCSD chancellor’s home, the skeletons have been the center of a legal battle. The Kumeyaay Indians of San Diego want to rebury the bones, which they believe were unearthed from ancestral tribal lands, and filed a lawsuit this April to reclaim them. But three UCSC professors fought back, filing ...

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Meet the Author

Jef Akst
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Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
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