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SALT LAKE CITY — At about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, construction workers discovered some bones at the original university library, which is undergoing a major renovation.
But it's not a crime scene, so anthropologists have been called in to investigate.
It's a minor snag in the renovation of the former Natural History Museum. The bones were discovered on the south side of the building and are believed to be human.
"They (state forensic anthropologists) have told us it's historic anatomical skeletons that they have found," said university spokesperson Maria O’Mara.
State forensic anthropologists were on the scene inspecting what the construction workers found. Protocol on construction projects dictate that if something unusual is found — in particular, bones — to call authorities, which the workers did.
“Our university police responded quickly, and they quickly assessed this wasn't an active crime scene, but rather some sort of historic or prehistoric site," O’Mara said.
The buildings on President's Circle first started going up in 1899. The building, where the bones were discovered, went up in 1936.
Though the groundwork has come to a standstill, other work inside the structure will continue. In the fall of 2017, the building will become the university’s new College of Science.
For the moment, some forensic science will be taking place to determine how long the skeletons have been here, and if there are more in the area.
Construction crews discovering buried items is nothing new. In fact, it's happened at the U in the past.
“I'm told a couple of years ago, a utilities trench was being dug here and there were some bones found then, but they were determined to be cow bones,” said O’Mara. “So it's not unheard of that we discover something that we want to take a second look at."
It could be several weeks before investigators have any specific information about the bones discovered.
