Canadian Couple Billed $5,000 for Skeleton Found in Backyard [VIDEO]

In a bizarre archaeological misadventure, a 400-year-old skeleton dug up in a Canadian backyard may cost the homeowners who discovered it thousands of dollars.

Just along the Michigan border, about 66 miles north of Detroit is the town of Sarnia in Ontario province. It was there that, about two weeks ago, homeowner Ken Campbell was digging post holes in his backyard when he came across some bones. Campbell, assuming they were animal bones, put them aside and continued working. As Canadian newspaper The Star reported, Campbell's wife, Nicole Sauve, realized the bones did not belong to an animal and insisted they investigate further.

"I said, 'They're not animal bones, Ken. Let's dig some more and see what we can find,'" she said, according to The Star.

What came next was a big surprise: the 400-year-old remains of an aboriginal woman

"We dug a little bit deeper we found her humerus, and then we dig down a little bit deeper after that and found the skull," Sauve said in a phone interview with Yahoo!'s Buzz 60.

The 24-year-old aboriginal woman died in the late 1500s or early 1600s, according to a forensic anthropologist brought to the scene, who determined the woman was most likely part of a hunting, fishing and gathering society. The couple's Sarnia home lies on what was once the center of an Ojibwa trade network. According to Michael Spence, the anthropologist brought in to examine the scene, the woman is probably a descendant of the traders who once occupied the land.

But finding out the details behind the deceased has proven to be costly. After foul play was ruled out as a cause of death, Canada's Registrar of Cemeteries was contacted. The Star reports that the Registrar told the homeowners that they would have to hire an archaeologist to conduct an assessment of their backyard at their own expense.

According to Ontario law, property owners are responsible for the costs of an archeological assessment if human remains are found on their land. The estimated cost of such an assessment is $5,000.

Sauve and Campbell are attempting to appeal the fine, seeking government assistance. They may be able to appeal to the Registrar if they can successfully make a case that paying for the excavation is an undue financial burden.

Sauve and Campbell gave the woman's remains to members of the nearby Aamjiwnaang First Nation people of whom she is likely a distant relative. After a traditional ceremony, the repatriated the bones were moved to a special cemetery on native land.