Experts to speak on historical skull found

COEYMANS -- A few years ago, a contractor at the historic Coeymans Stone House made a startling discovery while working on a basement wall.

He found a woman's skull.

Next week, a number of questions uncovered with the skull will be answered, according to the Ravena-Coeymans Historical Society.

After the skull was found in May 2008, investigators concluded the 35- to 50-year-old woman had been dead for centuries. A bioarchaeologist at the State Museum said faint cut marks on the surface of the skull could have been from a scalping.

Fragments of animal bones also were found in the basement.

The historical society said researchers have determined the woman was older than 50 and may date back to the 1700s. The skull is well preserved, the society said, but there are few clues as to the cause of death.

Researchers created a facial reconstruction of the woman based on forensic evidence. At the next historical society meeting on Sunday, a panel of experts will explain how the reconstruction was achieved and will speak about what it revealed.

In 2008, a previous owner of the Coeymans Stone House, which dates to the late 17th century, said a mason he hired had found the skull back in 1971, but the Coeymans police chief at the time had him put it back in the wall.

After it was found a second time, the skull was turned over to researchers.

A portion of the Coeymans Stone House was constructed in 1675, then Ariaantje and Samuel Coeymans expanded it in 1720 on the site of an American Indian burial ground and trading post. It sits where the Hudson River and Coeymans Creek converge and is registered as a state historical site.

On Sunday, researchers will unveil the woman's facial reconstruction along with a cast of the actual skull at 2 p.m. at Ravena Village Hall.