Spirit Cave mummy
{{Short description|Human mummy found in Nevada}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Spirit Cave Mummy
| image = Spirit Cave Mummy.jpg
| caption = Spirit Cave Mummy remains, still wrapped in material it was placed in
| death_date = {{circa}} 7420 BC
| death_place = now Nevada, United States
| body_discovered = 1940 by Sydney and Georgia Wheeler
}}
The Spirit Cave mummy is the oldest human mummy found in North America.{{cite journal |last=Asher |first=Lara J. |date=September{{ndash}}October 1996 |title=Oldest North American Mummy |url=http://www.archaeology.org/9609/newsbriefs/nevada.html |url-status=live |journal=Archaeology |volume=49 |issue=5 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051217070758/http://www.archaeology.org/9609/newsbriefs/nevada.html |archive-date=December 17, 2005 |access-date=2010-04-18}}{{cite web
| title = Questions about mummies and bog bodies
| work = Ask Dr. Dig
| url = http://www.digonsite.com/drdig/mummy/9.html
| access-date = 2010-04-18
| archive-date = October 22, 2007
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071022130404/http://www.digonsite.com/drdig/mummy/9.html
| url-status = live
}}{{Cite web|title=10 Oldest Mummies in the World – Oldest.org|date=22 February 2018|url=https://www.oldest.org/culture/mummies/|access-date=2020-10-14|language=en-US|archive-date=October 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027004122/https://www.oldest.org/culture/mummies/|url-status=live}} It was discovered in 1940 in Spirit Cave,{{Cite web|last=Redmond|first=Caroline|date=2018-11-09|title=Mystery Of 10,600-Year-Old 'Spirit Cave Man,' Earth's Oldest Natural Mummy, Finally Solved|url=https://allthatsinteresting.com/spirit-cave-mummy|access-date=2020-10-14|website=All That's Interesting|language=en-US|archive-date=October 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018192634/https://allthatsinteresting.com/spirit-cave-mummy|url-status=live}} {{convert|13|mi}} eastApprox. {{coord|39.425403|-118.608570|format=dms|type:landmark|display=inline}}, {{Citation
| last1=Rhode
| first1=David
| last2=Adams
| first2=Kenneth
| last3=Elston
| first3=Robert
| chapter=Figure 2-Map showing location of field trip stops
| editor-last=Lageson
| editor-first=David
| title=Great Basin and Sierra Nevada
| publisher=Geological Society of America
| year=2000
| isbn=0-8137-0002-7
| chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rkF6oh6-nKwC&pg=PA47
}} of Fallon, Nevada, United States, by the husband-and-wife archaeological team of Sydney and Georgia Wheeler. Analysis of the remains showed similarities to North and South American indigenous peoples and in 2016, the remains were repatriated to the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe of Nevada. The Spirit Cave mummy was one of the first to be dated using accelerated mass spectrometer radiocarbon dating. In turn, its discovery and analysis gave much insight and motivation of further research into the chronology of the western great basin.
Discovery
The Wheelers, working for the Nevada State Parks Commission, were surveying possible archaeological sites to prevent their loss due to guano mining. Upon entering Spirit Cave, they discovered the remains of two people wrapped in tule matting. One set of remains, buried deeper than the other, had been partially mummified (the head and right shoulder). This partially mummified individual (the Spirit Cave mummy) was found to be wearing moccasins and wrapped in a rabbit-skin blanket when placed there. The Wheelers, with the assistance of local residents, recovered a total of sixty-seven artifacts from the cave.
These artifacts were examined at the Nevada State Museum where they were initially estimated to be between 1,500 and 2,000 years old. They were deposited at the Nevada State Museum's storage facility in Carson City where they remained for the next fifty-four years.
=Spirit Cave=
Spirit Cave is at an elevation of {{convert|4,154| feet}} in the foothills of the Stillwater Mountains;{{cite web|url=http://www.cabrillo.edu/~crsmith/spiritman2.html |title=The Men from Spirit Cave and Wizard's Beach |work =Mammoth Trumpet |date=1997 |archive-date=2017-05-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170501115221/http://www.cabrillo.edu/~crsmith/spiritman2.html |publisher=Cabrillo College}} the Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge was established in this area. The location is to the northeast of Fallon, Nevada.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l4hTCuby90IC&pg=PA58 |title=map of the area|isbn=978-1-888729-19-1 |last1=Olsen |first1=Brad |date=February 19, 2024 |publisher=CCC }} Biological similarities between remains found in Spirit Cave have shown undeniable association to remains scattered across a wide geographic location such as the Wizard Beach man and Crypt Cave dog burial.
Dating
In 1996, University of California, Riverside anthropologist R. Ervi Taylor examined seventeen of the Spirit Cave artifacts using mass spectrometry. The results indicated that the mummy was approximately 9,400 years old (uncalibrated RCYBP; ~11.5 Kya calibrated) — older than any previously known North American mummy.{{cite journal
| journal = Nevada Historical Society Quarterly
| volume = 40
| issue = 1
| year = 1997
| title = Dating the Spirit Cave Mummy: The value of Reexamination
| first1 = D. L.
| last1 = Kirner
| first2 = R.
| last2 = Burky
| first3 = K.
| last3 = Selsor
| first4 = D.
| last4 = George
| first5 = R. E.
| last5 = Taylor
| first6 = J. R.
| last6 = Southon
| url = http://www.onlinenevada.org/sites/default/files/DatingSpiritCave_Kirner_1997.pdf
| pages = 54–56
| access-date = 2017-05-30
| archive-date = October 17, 2015
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151017175520/http://onlinenevada.org/sites/default/files/DatingSpiritCave_Kirner_1997.pdf
| url-status = live
}} Researchers estimate the death of this person to have occurred about 7420 B.C.{{dubious|date=September 2021|reason=If it's 11500 B.P. (calibrated), that's 9551 B.C.}} The mummy was originally thought to be between 1,500 and 2,000 years old until mass spectrometry carbon dates were carried out.
The findings were published in the Nevada Historical Quarterly in 1997 and drew immediate national attention.{{cite journal
| journal = Nevada Historical Society Quarterly
| volume = 40
| issue = 1
| year = 1997
| title = Nevada Historical Society Quarterly
| url = http://epubs.nsla.nv.gov/statepubs/epubs/210777-1997-1Spring.pdf
| access-date = 2020-09-19
| archive-date = August 26, 2021
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210826155642/http://epubs.nsla.nv.gov/statepubs/epubs/210777-1997-1Spring.pdf
| url-status = live
| title = Spirit Cave Man Update
| journal= Nevada State Museum Newsletter
| volume = 7
| issue = 5
| page = 5
| date = September–October 1999
| url = http://museums.nevadaculture.org/dmdocuments/mus-let09.pdf
| access-date = 2010-04-18
| publisher = Nevada State Museum
| location = Carson City, Nevada
| url-status = dead
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150321125326/http://museums.nevadaculture.org/dmdocuments/mus-let09.pdf
| archive-date = 2015-03-21}}{{cite magazine
| title = The First Americans - New digs and old bones reveal an ancient land that was a mosaic of peoples--including Asians and Europeans. Now a debate rages: who got here first?
| last1 = Begley
| first1 = Sharon
| last2 = Murr
| first2 = Andrew
| date = 1999-04-26
| magazine = Newsweek
| volume = 133
| pages = 50–57
| issn = 0028-9604
| url = http://www.newsweek.com/id/88135
| access-date = 2010-04-19
| archive-date = August 30, 2009
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090830125912/http://www.newsweek.com/id/88135
| url-status = live
| title = After 10,000 years, dispute remains Clan of the cave man may predate Indians
| last = Mullen Jr.
| first = Frank X.
| date = 2000-08-02
| page = 10d
| newspaper = USA Today}}
Repatriation and DNA Analysis
In March 1997, the Paiute-Shoshone Tribe of the Fallon Reservation and Colony
made a Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) claim of cultural affiliation with the artifacts.{{cite web
| title = Spirit Cave Man
| work = Nevada Department of Cultural Affairs
| url = http://museums.nevadaculture.org/new_exhibits/cc-UnderOneSky/spiritcave.htm
| access-date = 2010-04-18
| archive-date = November 12, 2013
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131112081148/http://museums.nevadaculture.org/new_exhibits/cc-UnderOneSky/spiritcave.htm
| url-status = dead
}}
In 2000, further study was unable to establish a definitive affiliation of the remains.{{cite web
| title = Determination of Cultural Affiliation of Ancient Human Remains from Spirit Cave, Nevada
| last1 = Barker
| first1 = Pat
| last2 = Ellis
| first2 = Cynthia
| last3 = Damadio
| first3 = Stephanie
| publisher = Bureau of Land Management Nevada State Office
| date = 2000-07-26
| url = http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/nv/cultural/spirit_cave_man.Par.57656.File.dat/SC_final_July26.pdf
| page = 39
| access-date = April 19, 2010
| archive-date = October 8, 2012
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121008162226/http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/nv/cultural/spirit_cave_man.Par.57656.File.dat/SC_final_July26.pdf
| url-status = dead
}}
In September 2006, the United States District Court for the District of Nevada ruled on a lawsuit by the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe and said that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) made an error in dismissing evidence without a full explanation. The court order remanded the matter back to the BLM for reconsideration of the evidence.{{cite court
| litigants = Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe v. United States Bureau of Land Management
| vol = 3:04-cv-00466-LRH-RAM
| court = United States District Court for the District of Nevada
| date = 2006-09-21
| url = http://www.friendsofpast.org/spirit-cave/order092106.pdf
}}
In October 2015, Eske Willerslev collected bone and tooth samples from the remains with the permission of the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe. DNA analysis indicated that the remains were similar to North and South American indigenous groups. On November 22, 2016, the remains were repatriated to the tribe.{{cite journal
| title = Ancient genome delivers 'Spirit Cave Mummy' to US tribe
| first = Ewen
| last = Callaway
| journal = Nature
| date = December 2016
| url = http://www.nature.com/news/north-america-s-oldest-mummy-returned-to-us-tribe-after-genome-sequencing-1.21108
| volume = 540
| issue = 7632
| pages = 178–179
| doi = 10.1038/540178a
| s2cid = 89286088
}}
Willerslev attended the 2018 burial of the remains by the tribe.{{cite news
| url = https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/nov/08/scientists-prove-10000-year-old-mummy-is-native-american-ancestor
| title = Early human dispersals within the Americas
| last = Devlin
| first = Hannah
| newspaper = The Guardian
| date = 2018-11-08
| access-date = 2018-11-08
| archive-date = November 9, 2018
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181109041828/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/nov/08/scientists-prove-10000-year-old-mummy-is-native-american-ancestor
| url-status = live
}}
In November 2018, researchers reported that the DNA sequencing of the remains were used in research about Paleoamericans (Y-haplogroup Q1b1a1a1-M848, mt-haplogroup D1).{{cite journal
| doi = 10.1126/science.aav2621
| first1 = J. Víctor
| last1 = Moreno-Mayar
| first2 = Lasse
| last2 = Vinner
| first3 = Peter
| last3 = de Barros Damgaard
| first4 = Constanza
| last4 = de la Fuente
| display-authors = etal
| title = Early human dispersals within the Americas
| journal = Science
| date = 2018-11-08
| pmid=30409807
| volume=362
| issue = 6419
| page=eaav2621| bibcode = 2018Sci...362.2621M
| doi-access = free
}}
Wizards Beach Man
The remains of a man from the same era, Wizards Beach Man, were also in the collection of the Nevada State Museum. The remains were radiocarbon dated at the same time. This turned out to be another early Holocene skeleton dating to almost exactly the same era.
Wizards Beach Man was found in 1978 at Wizards Beach{{cite gnis | id = 845012 | name = Wizards Beach}} on Pyramid Lake, about 100 miles (160 km) to the northwest from Spirit Cave. Radiocarbon dating has established that he lived more than 9,200 years ago.{{cite journal
| last = Hall
| first = Don Alan
| url = http://www.cabrillo.edu/~crsmith/spiritman2.html
| title = The Men from Spirit Cave and Wizard's Beach
| journal = Mammoth Trumpet
| volume = 12
| number = 2
| year = 1997
| access-date = 2016-06-14
| archive-date = March 12, 2018
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180312164822/http://www.cabrillo.edu/~crsmith/spiritman2.html
| url-status = dead
| last = Edgar
| first = Heather Joy Hecht
| title = Paleopathology of the Wizards Beach Man (AHUR 2023) and the Spirit Cave Mummy (AHUR 2064)
| journal = Nevada Historical Society Quarterly
| volume = 40
| pages = 57–61
| year = 1997
| url = http://www.onlinenevada.org/sites/default/files/Wizards_Edgar_1997.pdf
| access-date = 2016-06-14
| archive-date = October 17, 2015
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151017233538/http://onlinenevada.org/sites/default/files/Wizards_Edgar_1997.pdf
| url-status = live
}}
Lovelock Cave, another important early site, is also nearby.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons}}
- [http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/NEWS/60508001&theme=SPIRITCAVEMAN&template=theme Spirit Cave Man series from the Reno Gazette-Journal] Offline as of 2010-April-18.
{{Pre-Columbian North America}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spirit Cave Mummy}}
Category:Churchill County, Nevada
Category:Native American history of Nevada