SAC CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in northwest Iowa say a human skull found earlier this year at the Raccoon River in southern Sac County is that of a Native American man who died hundreds of years ago. The skull was found July 11th on a sandbar in the river, and was initially thought to be that of an adult white man.

But Sac County Sheriff Ken McClure says in a statement that a forensic anthropologist has determined the skull is that of a 40- to 50-year-old man of American Indian ancestry who likely died “more than a few hundred years ago.” McClure says the skull will be returned to the Iowa State Medical Examiner.