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SPRING HILL — As they excavated last week for a parking lot at Pasco-Hernando Community College's newest campus, construction crews made a startling discovery:
A human skull.
A worker noticed the skull pieces about 11:20 a.m. Thursday in the pile of moved earth, PHCC spokeswoman Lucy Miller said. All work stopped while officials contacted the district medical examiner. The Hernando County Sheriff's Office dispatched a deputy and a forensics team.
"We don't know the age of the skull. We don't know if it's a skull that might have some archaeological significance," Miller said. "We don't have any more information other than the fact that it is determined to be a human skull."
The skull has been sent to a laboratory to determine its age, which will determine how the matter will be investigated.
If the skull was buried more than 75 years ago, it will be treated as an archaeological find, Miller said. The state's Division of Historical Resources will decide whether further excavation of the site is necessary.
If the skull was buried less than 75 years ago, the Hernando County Sheriff's Office will launch a death investigation. The site would be combed for other evidence.
Miller said the new campus location — just off U.S. 19, about a mile north of the Pasco-Hernando county line — borders a state-designated site of historical significance. The college was required to hire an archaeologist as a consultant on the parking lot project.
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