Case file · Sacred site
Spirit Cave burial
In 1940 archaeologists found a man buried in a cave near Fallon, Nevada, wrapped in fine tule matting. Dated in the 1990s to about 10,600 years ago, he is one of the oldest mummies in the Americas.
1940 CE · 39.40, -118.63 · status: official
The account
The Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe sought his return for two decades; DNA analysis in 2016 showed he was ancestral to Native Americans, and he was reburied in 2018.