State investigators have confirmed that bones discovered in August at the Dawson County Transfer Station are human remains.

Dawson County Sheriff's Capt. Tony Wooten said DNA from the bones is being examined to see if it matches any missing person cases. The bones are also being studied to determine their age.

One possibility is that they could be extremely old Native American artifacts, according to Wooten.

The bones were found by county workers in a backpack on Aug. 22.

At the time of the discovery, Sheriff Billy Carlisle said the owners of the backpack told authorities they had found the bones on an island at Lake Allatoona in nearby Cherokee County.

"They said they found the skeleton of an old horse there and said they picked it up years ago and took them home for some reason," Carlisle said in August.

Cherokee County Sheriff's Lt. Jay Baker on Tuesday said his office is not involved in the investigation and has not been contacted in connection with it.

The bones were sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab for testing. They were confirmed as human Thursday.

According to Carlisle, it's too early to say if foul play is a possibility. The investigation is ongoing.