An excavation crew has unearthed a skull at the bottom of Pearl Harbour that archaeologists suspect is from a Japanese pilot who died in the historic attack in 1941.
Archaeologist Jeff Fong of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific said early analysis of the startling find has made him “75 per cent sure” that the skull belongs to a Japanese pilot.
The items found with the skull, which was determined not to be from a Native Hawaiian, provided some clues – forks, scraps of metal and a Coca-Cola bottle – which researchers determined were from the 1940s.
Fifty-five Japanese airmen were killed and 29 of their aircraft were shot down in the December 7 attack, compared with the 2,400 US service members who died. No Japanese remains have been found at Pearl Harbour since World War II.
Pearl Harbour is home to the USS Arizona Memorial, which sits on top of the battleship that sank during the attack. It still holds the bodies of more than 900 men.
The skull remains intact despite being dug up with giant cranes and shovels.
It was April 1 when items plucked from the water during the overnight dredging were laid to dry. When it was determined a skull was among the dredged items, contractors were ordered to stop the work, Denise Emsley, public affairs officer for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Hawaii, said. “We definitely wanted it to be handled correctly,” she said. “That’s why it’s been kept quiet. We didn’t want to excite people prematurely.”
The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command on Oahu, charged with identifying Americans killed in action but were never brought home, has been asked to determine whom the skull belongs to.
The cranium was turned over to the command’s lab for tests that will include examining dental records and DNA, said John Byrd, the lab’s director and a forensic anthro - pologist.
“We’re working on the case but the case is just in the early stages of analysis,” he said. “We’re not going to know much more about it for a while yet.”
The lab is the only accredited Skeletal Identification Laboratory in the US. JPAC has identified more than 560 Americans since the command was activated in 2003. When more information is gleaned from the skull, other agencies could get involved including the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Japanese Consulate.
“At this point it’s just a hypothesis, it’s not a conclusion,” Mr Byrd said. “It might be very interesting or it could be very mundane.”
Daniel Martinez, the National Park Service’s chief historian for Pearl Harbour, said experts there knew enough about the specific location where Japanese planes went down in the attack that they
might be able to match the skull with a crew member.
“They landed in a variety of places throughout Pearl Harbour and the island of Oahu,” he said. “In the area of Pearl Harbour, we know what plane was shot down and who was in the crew.”
Mr Martinez said that, beyond the historical significance of the finding, it is a reminder of a life lost.
“I think that anytime you’re able to reclaim a casualty and perhaps even identify it, regardless of what country, it may bring closure to a family,” he said.