Inca skull offered on eBay

A northern Utah ancient artifacts dealer's posting on eBay of a purported Inca skull has caused a stir in local archaeological circles.

State archaeologist Kevin Jones finds the practice of selling human remains "morally reprehensible," and authorities are trying to determine whether any laws were broken in this particular case.

"We're looking into the legality," he said.

The high bid Sunday on the male skull that Plain City resident Gilmer Brush put on the eBay Internet auction site was $2,850. But when Brush tried to make contact with the bidder, he said, the account turned out to be fictitious "to prevent the skull from selling."

Brush listed the skull, which he said he bought through an intermediary from a retired Ogden police officer, up for another 24 hours. The online auction Web site apparently pulled the item late Monday afternoon. The skull remains in Brush's possession.

Brush, who said he has sold at least three skulls on the Internet, is flabbergasted by the hubbub over this one.

"I don't know what the big deal is. I'm at a loss as to what has happened. I listed an Inca skull on eBay and all of a sudden the world came apart."

Jones declined to discuss details of this case.

"We hate to see people sell human bones in any form," he said.

Five humans skulls were listed on eBay Monday evening, ranging in price from $202 to $350. All were advertised as once being used as medical teaching aids.

Brush, an enthusiastic collector of ancient American Indian and other artifacts, pitched his as a very rare ancient Inca skull and in excellent condition. It also has what he described as an "obsidian projectile tip" in the forehead that could have caused death.

The seller, Brush said, represented the skull as coming from the personal collection of a University of Utah anthropologist. But Jones said the now-deceased professor did not collect human remains and would have abhorred their sale.

Brush conceded he does not know for sure where the skull came from. He said he tries to be above aboard in all his transactions. "If I've misrepresented something to that effect, I apologize," he said.

Brush doesn't believe he did anything wrong in attempting to sell the skull. He doesn't think the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) applies because the Incas did not live in the United States.

NAGPRA was passed by Congress in response to growing concerns among American Indian tribes that their ancestral graves and funerary objects were being desecrated, not only by amateurs and collectors but by archaeologists who carted off human remains to museums. The law allows for the remains to be "repatriated" to their modern descendants for reburial.

The state has a similar law protecting American Indian remains.

"I'm not the type of person to go around desecrating graves," Brush said. Still, he expects a visit from authorities.

"They'll probably take away everything in my collection and put me jail," he said.

The case likely would be looked at by the U.S. Attorney General's Office, according to spokesperson Melody Rydalch, only if it were determined that "somebody dug it out of federal land."

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