500-year-old skeletons headed for Native American tribes
Two 500-year-old skeletons discovered in Idaho’s high desert plains will be turned over to Native American tribes.
U.S. officials in a series of notices that started Friday say the remains of the young adult and child will be given to the interrelated Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in eastern Idaho and the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes in southern Idaho and northern Nevada.
The notices begin a process allowing other tribes to make claims until June 28.
U.S. officials say tribes in Idaho, Oregon and Nevada participated in discussions about the remains and deferred to the selected tribes.
The bones found in a badger hole on federal land in southwestern Idaho in April 2017 were in such good condition that the site became a crime scene. But carbon dating revealed the people died five centuries ago.
