8,000-Year-Old Human Skull Found In Minnesota River

RENVILLE COUNTY, MN — A piece of an 8,000-year-old human skull was discovered by two kayakers on the Minnesota River, according to the New York Times.

The kayakers found the bone in September near Sacred Heart, about 120 miles from the Twin Cities, and reported it to the Renville County Sheriff’s Office, the Times reported. The agency received word this week that a forensic anthropologist determined the fragment belonged to a young man who lived in the Archaic period, as long ago as 6000 B.C., according to the Times.

A small number of remains from that period in Minnesota have been studied, and it is unusual for Native American tribes in Minnesota to allow their ancestors’ bones to be examined in an archaeological context, the Times reported. Numerous groups contacted the sheriff’s office when the agency shared photos of the skull on Facebook, according to the Times. The photos were taken down, but Dylan Goetsch of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council told the Times the sheriff’s office showed cultural insensitivity and failed to notify the council of the discovery. The skull will be returned to local Native American tribes, the Times reported.

Read more from the New York Times.