Help Me Identify These Bones

[agraham999]

So my wife and I were hiking at Multnomah Falls on the AK-Wanee trail...it is a 2 mile hike that is definitely the "less travelled." During the hike we came across this set of bones that looks like it was laid out. Couldn't find a skull. I was wondering if anyone had an idea of what type of animal this might be? This area of the hike is pretty steep either direction off the path, so wondering what animal might inhabit or wander these hills?

[jcoffman]

Ummmm... you sure thats an animal??!!!??!! That femur looks pretty human as do those shoulder blades at the top

[agraham999]

Well aren't we all animals anyway?

[greenteadrinker]

Call the cops and they'll get some csi guys on it.It
could be an old murder case. Or e-mail the photo's
to em'

[Syera]

My first guess is a dog - or some kind of predatory creature. Is that a skull I see, or does it just look like one?

Also, what I take to be the scapulae aren't shaped like human scapulae.

[MyDogRex]

This showed up over on Boingboing.net I guess its a small world after all.

My vote is that they are Sasquatch bones.

[Michael Graham Richard]

Very intriguing indeed.

[greenteadrinker]

Can anyone at Discovery help you with id? E-mail pix to someone?

[5ive]

No need to call police... Those look an awful lot like deer bones arranged in an anthropomorphic manner. If you look at the iliac (pelvic bones), you can see how tall and skinny they are. Same goes for the scapula (shoulder bones). Those bones on a human are broad and shorter by comparison.
'Tis a nice joke tho

[catgirl]

I agree with the person above. I used to work in zooarchaeology and, while the pictures are not the best way to identify these bones, I think they are likely deer remains. As the person mentioned above, the scapula and pelvis are not consistant with human remains and more like that of Artiodactyla. I do not see a femur bone. Instead, I see a tibia and a metatarsal. If it is indeed a metatarsal, it may be an indicator that you have Artiodactyla (appears to have two toes).

You could also post to www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/quicktype.cgi?m which is a list serve for academics in zooarchaeology. Many pictures are sent to them for brief analysis.

Hope this helps!

[inkabinkaboo182]

Jimmy Hoffa!

[greenteadrinker]

Jimmy Hoffa!

Yep, sure is! I guess his cigar has long since
disintegrated.

[Guest]

Without a scale you can't tell necessarily what it is. But, definitely an ungulate -not human- most likely a deer. Whoever laid it out did put the C1 vertebrae at the wrong end (opposite the scapula).

[SgtMaj]

Jimmy Hoffa!

LOL, I hadn't seen this response... hillarious!