How an ancient skull fragment was dated — and its place in Hoosier history

How did scientists determine the age of a 4,270-year-old skull fragment?

It's a story that's been trending ever since we broke it. A small piece of a skull was found along the Whitewater River in Fayette County.

I visited the Osteology Classroom at the University of Indianapolis. There, I met Dr. Krista Latham. Latham is not only a biology and anthropology professor at the university, but she's also the director of the university's Human Identification Center.

What does this center do?

"Provides forensic anthropology services for the state of Indiana," Dr. Latham explained. "We provide those services to all of our county coroners. When they discover human remains, then they can enlist us either to assist them in the field with the recovery of those remains, or to assist them with the i