An Ethnohistoric Infant Burial from Western Nevada

Nevada Cultural Resource Series Technical Report #16

The disturbed remains of an infant interred in a granite outcrop southwest of Hawthorne, Nevada, were reported to the Bureau of Land Management by Hawthorne residents searching for "lost treasure." Because the location of the find and the existence of grave goods were known to others, further destruction of the site by artifact collectors was believed inevitable. The body and associated artifacts were removed by BLM and Nevada Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology personnel for anthropological analysis prior to return of the remains to the Walker River, Northern Paiute Indian tribe. The infant, probably less than one month old, was buried on a cradleboard and provided with cloth and glass bead grave offerings. Artifacts and historical analyses indicate interment between ca, 1881 to 1912 date for the burial... An agreement was reached between the Bureau of Land Management, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology, and the Walker Lake Indian Tribe for the return of the recovered human remains and all grave goods to the tribe for reburial after scientific examination and analysis.