Human remains found in Iowa River belonged to prehistoric man
MARSHALL COUNTY, Iowa (KCRG) - A human jawbone found in the Iowa River last month was determined to have likely belonged to a prehistoric man.
On August 10th at approximately 4:00 pm, deputies with the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office were directed to a remote area in the Iowa river where a possible human lower jawbone was discovered by Marshall County Conservation staff during a biological and wildlife survey.
Officials say that the jawbone was intact but deteriorated, indicating that it was at least several years old. Investigators conducted a more thorough search of the area and located three additional potential human bones.
The suspected human remains were sent to the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office for further testing. Examiner’s determined that the mandible was human and that the remaining bones were non-human.
The remains were then transferred to the Office of the State Archaeologist and the University of Iowa for further examination. The mandible was determined likely to belong to a prehistoric Native American, middle to older age male.
More research is expected to be done on the jawbone.
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