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In a quiet residential neighborhood in Santa Ana, city workers were digging beneath a sidewalk when they made a startling discovery four feet deep -- bones.
It appeared to be a complete human skeleton. Homicide detectives were summoned to the site in the 1600 block of West Borchard Avenue after the late October find.
But forensic investigators quickly determined that the bones were very old -- at least 100 years old. And they appeared to be those of a Native American person, perhaps a member of the Gabrielino-Tongva tribe.
A month earlier, about two miles from the Borchard Avenue site, crews excavating for the OC Streetcar project also found ancient Native American bones.
With work continuing on the 4.1-mile streetcar line, more ancient remains could be unearthed in a county that is synonymous with suburban sprawl yet built on layers of history, from the agricultural past that inspired its name to the hunter gatherers who were its first human inhabitants.
"It makes you wonder how many are under us every day," said Sgt. Dennis Breckner, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff-Coroner Department.
The quest to find both sets of remains a final resting place began soon after they were identified as ancient and Native American.
As required by law, the Orange County Coroner Division notified the state Native American Heritage Commission within 24 hours.
The commission was then required to immediately contact the most likely descendant...