Science, Indian tribes both lay claim to Spirit Cave Man Researchers want to genetically test mummified remains, but the Paiute are seeking to rebury them.
By Sean Whaley
Donrey Capital Bureau
CARSON CITY -- Are the 9,400-year-old remains of Nevada's Spirit Cave Man evidence of human occupation in North America prior to the arrival of the ancestors of today's American Indians?
Evidence gleaned from tests and examinations of the oldest mummified human remains discovered on the continent suggests that possibility, researchers say. But the remains of the man, who was in his mid-40s and suffered from a bad back and fractured skull when he died around 7,400 B.C. near Fallon, could soon be off-limits to scientists.
Paiute Indian tribal officials want Spirit Cave Man reburied. The federal American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act requires human remains held by museums and researchers to be returned to Indian tribes who can make a valid claim for them.
But preliminary research suggests Spirit Cave Man may have no connection to the American Indian tribes who have lived in western Nevada for the past several hundred years. Instead, he may represent a completely different migration to North America and could be genetically linked to ancient Japanese or the Norse of northern Europe.
Amy Dansie, an archaeologist with the state Museums and History Division who announced the age of Spirit Cave Man last year, said a request has been made to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to allow genetic testing. "The northern Paiute tribe is objecting to the study," she said. "The question is, do they have the right to stop science? We think it is important to proceed with the scientific inquiry."
The federal agency, which is considering the request, must authorize the test because of its invasive nature. The testing issue is separate from the request to rebury Spirit Cave Man filed by the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe.
Ray Rawson, a forensic dentist and state senator who once requested an opportunity to study the remains of Spirit Cave Man, said further inquiry could rewrite human prehistory in North America. While Spirit Cave Man should be treated with respect, Rawson said research should continue to allow scientists to find out all they can about him.
"I want researchers to at least be able to come to a conclusion before reburying him," Rawson said. "We can't just put our heads in the sand."
Pressure to rebury the remains may reflect a concern by American Indians that further study will show they were not the first inhabitants of the continent, he said.
"Native populations have a right to have the sacred nature of their burials honored," Rawson said. "I don't want someone going through a graveyard and digging up my ancestors.
"But I don't think this case fits into that," he said. "Failing to look at what is going on here won't do any of us any good. Ignorance has never served mankind well."
Mervin Wright, chairman of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, disagrees. He said there is no question that Spirit Cave Man is related to the Paiute. The objects buried with Spirit Cave Man show a clear link with the Paiute people, he said.
Nor should there be any debate about whether he should be reburied immediately, Wright said.
"No matter what your belief, if your ancestor or relative is put to rest, you want to have dignity and respect to allow that person to rest in peace, whether he is 50,000 years old, 1 million years old or just put in the ground yesterday," he said.
"Once that burial is completed, it is considered sacred," Wright said.
Efforts by Eurocentric researchers to rewrite the history of human occupation of North America will not change the beliefs of the Paiute, he said.
"We don't look at our existence or creation as theory," Wright said.
The remains of Spirit Cave Man have been in the possession of the state since their discovery almost 50 years ago. But the naturally mummified remains, originally thought to be 2,000 years old, were dated only recently using a radiocarbon technique.
Stunned state officials announced their archaeological discovery in April 1996.
"This is the best dated early man in the New World," Dansie said.
The age was determined by performing seven separate radiocarbon-dating tests on samples of bone, hair and two reed mats in which he was buried.
Spirit Cave Man was found formally buried in the cave of the same name east of Fallon in 1940 by S.M. and Georgia Wheeler, hired to investigate and excavate caves in the region because of the threat to archaeological resources from guano miners.
The man, who stood 5-foot-2, still has black hair on his head and dried skin attached to his skull and his right shoulder. He became mummified in the dry air of the cave. He was wrapped in a finely woven reed mat and wore beautifully crafted moccasins made of three different types of animal hide.
Spirit Cave Man now resides in a warehouse in Carson City in the possession of the Department of Museums, Library and Arts. He is not the only ancient resident of the New World to spark controversy.
The discovery of the 9,200-year-old bones of Kennewick Man on the banks of the Columbia River in Washington last year has ignited a dispute between Indians and scientists that has landed in federal court. An initial analysis of the skull suggests Kennewick Man also is different from Indians now living in the area.
Indians have demanded the immediate reburial of the bones, while researchers say further study is needed. Dansie and fellow archaeologist Donald Tuohy said Spirit Cave Man and other ancient remains found in Nevada will continue to be studied until their fate is decided by the repatriation act.
Dansie said a new study, designed to provide a three- dimensional image of Spirit Cave Man and hopefully allow for a more detailed artist's rendering of what he looked like, is about to get under way. Because the process is not invasive, it can proceed without Bureau of Land Management approval.
While the repatriation act may ultimately result in the reburial of Spirit Cave Man, the law does give researchers some leeway. The 1990 law provides for completion of scientific research of "major benefit to the United States" prior to repatriation.
"This burial clearly qualifies under this provision," Dansie and Tuohy contend. "This is a world class discovery of significance to the understanding of humanity's origins on a planetary scale."