POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. — Authorities say a human skull found in a vacant lot in the Hudson Valley has been identified as that of an American Indian who died a century or more ago.

Police in the town of Poughkeepsie say a forensic anthropologist examined the skull on Monday and determined it was from a Native American who lived in the 1800s to the early 1900s.

The skull was found last weekend by an archaeologist who was working on a nearly 5-acre parcel where an office park has been proposed. Police were contacted and the lot was blocked off as a possible crime scene.

The state parks office was notified of the discovery. A spokesman for the agency tells the Poughkeepsie Journal that Indian tribes will be notified so that the skull can be handled in the proper manner.