OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Thurston County coroner’s investigation of a death at a private home in Olympia has turned up more than a few skeletons.
Not the metaphoric skeletons concealed in a closet, but literal collections of human bones -- including skulls -- that once supported flesh and blood.
The coroner is now storing three complete skeletons that were taken from the deceased 55-year-old man’s home, including one inscribed with writing indicating that it belonged to a 6-year-old boy.
Another has a sticker on its skull that states it came from Calcutta, India. The third skeleton, part of which was hanging on display in the home, appears to be “very old,” said Thurston County Coroner Gary Warnock, and possibly dates to the early 1900s.
“Very unusual,” Warnock said of the Feb. 5 discovery. “It’s something you don’t come across every day.”
Warnock emphasized that none of the remains are thought to have come into the man’s possession as a result of foul play.
Olympia Police Lt. Jim Costa confirmed that the police department has not opened an investigation into either the deceased man or the remains.
The skeletons appear to be of a type once used for medical instruction, Warnock said. Today, medical schools use synthetic skeletons, he said.
In addition to the three complete skeletons, eight human skulls were found. Four are being stored at the coroner’s office in Tumwater, and they also appear to be of a variety used for teaching in medical schools.
Warnock said the skulls are classified as teaching skulls because they have holes drilled in them, as well as metal springs that are used to connect the upper and lower jaws.
The coroner’s office said the four other skulls are not believed to be of forensic value, either. The state Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation said it would try to determine whether the four skulls are the remains of American Indians. It is illegal to buy, sell and, in some cases, possess American Indian remains, according to federal law.
Human skeletons and skulls used for study or collection are rare and expensive, but in general, they are not illegal to possess, said Ron Cauble, owner of The Bone Room, a natural history store that sells animal and human skeletons in Berkeley, Calif.
Warnock said that in addition to potentially expensive artifacts, the man’s home had other unusual items, such as dead and decomposing animals, including a vacuum-sealed cat and a porcupine. The man also had a large number of loose animal bones in the home, including a huge whale bone, and a necklace strung with human vertebrae and what appears to be an alligator foot.
Cauble said he thinks Warnock should return the skeletons to the residence or the dead man’s heirs.
He said people purchase human skeletons from him for many purposes. Customers include doctors who have a medical interest in skeletons, hobbyists with an interest in natural history, or artists who use them as studies for sculpture or painting.
Warnock cites state law -- an 1891 statute that allows doctors and medical students to possess dead bodies “for the purposes of anatomical inquiry or instruction” -- as allowing his office to take possession of the bones.
Warnock would not release the man’s name or address. The man was discovered dead Feb. 5 of heart failure. He probably died Feb. 2, Warnock said. The man formerly worked at a local library, lived alone and owned his home in downtown Olympia, Warnock said.
Cauble said collectible human bones are becoming more and more expensive because the sources where one can legally buy them in the U.S. are limited and diminishing.
Erin Kerrigan, assistant manager at The Bone Room, said that until the early 1900s, people who donated their bodies to science wound up becoming skeletons used in medical instruction, but that is no longer the case.
Today, the bones of people who donate their bodies for medical use typically wind up being cremated, she said.
Other sources of legal human skeletons also have dried up, Cauble said.
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a secret society popular in the U.S. in the 1800s, once kept human skeletons in its lodges, he said. Since the decline of the organization, skeletons that once belonged to the group have popped up for sale at auctions and yard sales, and through private owners, but they are rare, Cauble said.
Cauble said India was a source of human skeletons in the U.S. until the mid-1980s, when the Indian government made it illegal to export them.