A human skull seized by the State of Louisiana from an eBay sale is analyzed. Bioarchaeological analyses of age-at-death, sex, and population affinity suggest the individual represented by the skull was a middle-aged Native American female. The presence of intentional cranial modification independently supports the population affinity assessment while confounding the metric analyses. However, no further specificity as to population affinity could be inferred using existing methods and comparative databases. Sedimentological and palynological analyses were attempted to redress this impasse. The presence of fine-grained charcoal, abundant fungal remains, and small angular quartz grains suggestive of burial in loess, as well as the lack of pollen, pteridophyte spores, and microscopic algae, suggest a likely upland burial location from somewhere in the lower Mississippi Valley. The sedimentological and palynological analyses, while not conclusive, show promise for use in future affiliation analyses of human remains recovered during the course of forensic investigations. The results are reviewed within the broader context of the legal debate over the repatriation of human remains.

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Internet sales of human remains occur despite the existence of laws prohibiting such action in most jurisdictions. The most popular public platform for online sales, eBay, allows users to postskeletal material for sale, largely anonymously and without much fear of legal repercussions. This survey of skeletal sales was conducted 10 years after the first article published about online human remains sales. A review of current laws reveals that, while many states have laws that restrict any sale of human remains, those laws have questionable deterrent effect. Assessing the skeletal material posted for sale provides law enforcement agencies with a necessary starting point to curtail the sale of human remains through enforcement of existing laws. Ultimately, the goal is to stem the commodification of such items and to recover skeletal material, especially that which may be of archaeological or forensic significance, and provide the proper final disposition for such material.

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