Jones told the Deseret Morning News on Tuesday morning he had not been contacted and didn't know about the discovery.

"In general, we have a law called 'Abuse and Desecrating of a Dead Human Body,' which makes it illegal for anyone to move, remove, destroy or damage a dead human body or any part thereof, without a court order, unless they're operating lawfully under one of several other statutes," Jones said.

In such cases, there is no violation of the law if the remains are handled in compliance with the Antiquity Act, the Utah Medical Examiner's Act, the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (use of dead bodies for medical purposes), the Funeral Services Licensing Act or the Utah Medical Practice Act, Jones said.

The LDS Church encountered controversy in 1999 when the bones of 10 men, women and children murdered during the infamous 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre in southern Utah were accidentally unearthed by a backhoe during construction of a monument to honor the 120 victims. The bones were quietly shipped to Brigham Young University for an archaeological evaluation before eventual reburial, but their removal elicited the ire of descendants and some concern from state officials.

The Temple Square discovery jibes with what is known historically about the Fremont Indians, who settled in the Salt Lake City area, according to Richard Talbot, director of the Office of Public Archaeology at Brigham Young University.

Though he was unaware of the discovery on Temple Square, Talbot said during excavation for the TRAX light-rail line on South Temple between 200 West and 300 West back in 1998, he and other archaeologists found evidence of a Fremont Indian village dating from 900 A.D. to 1300 A.D., the "late Fremont period."

What is now known as City Creek ran through the area, attracting settlement "anywhere along the whole City Creek alluvial fan. . . . The evidence so far shows a large Fremont Indian village basically underneath downtown Salt Lake."

Without analysis, it isn't known whether the remains are from that period or ethnic group, "but we know the Utes and other groups lived in that area as well. It's very possible those kinds of groups could have lived on and buried their dead in the same general area."

As for the possible presence of additional remains under the Tabernacle, Talbot said Fremont Indians didn't typically use common burial grounds. "They would bury people anywhere it is convenient."

One book detailing the original construction of the Salt Lake Tabernacle offered no detailed information about the extent of excavation done there in the 1860s. But a news account from the summer of 1968 detailing major excavation work under the building to create room for storage and broadcasting equipment said, "The world-famous structure practically rested on the ground," with only a single tunnel and several small utility rooms built under the floor at the west end.

The Tabernacle, home to the famed Mormon Tabernacle Choir, has been undergoing a retrofit since January. Barring unforeseen delays, the work is expected to be completed in mid-2006.

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