Thousand-year-old remains of an American Indian were discovered by a Utah boy in the backyard of his father's Salt Lake City pond, UK MailOnline reported.
Digging through a trout pond, the 14-year-old boy came across the ancient body through accident.
Confirmed by medical examiners as belonging to a person from a millennium ago, the remains were taken out by experts from the Utah Department of Heritage and Arts on Friday.
After Ali Erturk came across the remains, an investigation was started on the site for archaeological clues, according to UK MailOnline.
"Humans have occupied this valley for up to 10,000 years," department spokesman Geoffrey Fattah told The Salt Lake Tribune. "We do run into situations where progress runs into the ancient past."
Mistaking his initial discovery to just be an animal bone, Erturk said he had been working on the trout pond for a couple of weeks, UK MailOnline reported.
"When I saw it looked like a human skull, then it definitely was a bit creepy," he told KTVX-TV. "I really do think there's other bones nearby, and I don't think that it's that unlikely or that lucky that I stumbled across this."
The unidentified person's sex and cultural affiliation will be verified after a forensic anthropologist analyzes the evidence.
"A report will go to the state Division of Indian Affairs, which will try to determine whether the remains are linked to current tribes, Fattah said," UK MailOnline reported. "A tribe may claim the remains and perform interment rites."
Native American graves are occasionally brought forth in other private properties throughout Salt Lake City. About six reports of ancient remains are typically reported statewide to the department each year, Fattah said.
If human remains are found, they should immediately be reported to law enforcement authorities in order to be removed professionally and respectfully, Fattah said.
