Skull fragment from Lake Pontchartrain dated to woman who died 3,500 years ago

Radiocarbon dating has determined that a human skull fragment found “in or around Lake Pontchartrain” in the 1980s is more than 3,500 years old, according to a news release from St. Tammany Parish Coroner Charles Preston.

Earlier this year, Preston’s office sent samples of the fragment, which was found in 1985, to a lab in Florida to determine whether the fragment warranted forensic investigation, the news release said. 

The lab said the remains dated to between 1634 and 1504 B.C., the release said. That places the woman within what is called the Late Archaic Period in Louisiana and is roughly contemporary with the Poverty Point site in northeast Louisiana, one of the most notable Late Archaic sites in the United States.

In recent weeks, Preston met with local Native American and other community leaders and briefed them on the find. 

Much about the fragment remains unknown, including exactly where it was found and who found it. It eventually ended up with the State Archaeologist, who sent it to the LSU Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services (FACES) lab, which was able to determine that the fragment belonged to a female who was between the age of 25 and 35 when she died.

In 2009, the St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office attempted to extract DNA from the fragment, but was only able to obtain a partial sequence, not enough to enter into national databases, Preston said. 

The fragment is still held by the LSU FACES Lab, Preston said.