PORT ANGELES — The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe plans to rebury a skull found on a beach near the mouth of the Elwha River.
Tribal Chairwoman Frances Charles said the skull was found Monday afternoon by tribal members.
It has been placed in a cedar box pending reburial.
Bill White, tribal archeologist, said the skull belonged to a set of remains repatriated from the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle in 1980 and buried near the river mouth.
It was apparently unearthed through erosion, he said.
The four partial skeletons reclaimed from the museum were removed in 1920 by University of Washington archeologists working at the river’s mouth.
White said the skull is in good shape, though it is missing its lower jaw.
It’s unclear how old it is.
“It’s in pretty good condition considering that it actually has been buried twice,” White said.
He said the box it was last buried in was found partially exposed a few yards away.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.