San Pedro Mountains Mummy

In October 1932, while digging for gold in the San Pedro mountains, Carbon County, Wyoming, two prospectors, Cecil Mayne and Frank Carr, blasted their way through some thick rock that a large vein of gold continued into. When the dust settled, they saw they had opened up a small room, approximately 4 ft tall, 4 ft wide, and about 15 ft deep. This is where they said that they first saw the mummy of a tiny person.

Photos and X-ray of the mummy

This first mummy was examined using X-rays which determined that it was the body of an anencephalic infant "whose cranial deformity gave it the appearance of a miniature adult." A second mummy examined by University of Wyoming anthropologist George Gill and the Denver Children's Hospital in the 1990s was also shown to be an anencephalic infant. DNA testing showed it to be Native American and radiocarbon dating dated it to about 1700.[1]

According to a July 7, 1979, article in the Casper Star-Tribune the first mummy started debates over whether it was a hoax, a baby, or one of the legendary "little people". The mummy ended up in Meeteetse, Wyoming at a local drug store where it was shown as an attraction for several years before it was bought by Ivan T. Goodman, a Casper, Wyoming businessman. The mummy was then passed on to Leonard Wadler, a New York businessman, and its present location is unknown.[2] Seeking to prove evolution wrong, an offer of a $10,000 reward was made for the person who finds the missing mummy according to the Casper Star-Tribune.[2]

See also

References
  1. Loendorf, Lawrence L.; Nancy Medaris Stone (2006). Mountain Spirit: The Sheep Eater Indians of Yellowstone. University of Utah Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-0874808681.
  2. Burke, Brendan (February 3, 2005). "Man offers $10,000 for Pedro Mountain Mummy". Casper Star-Tribune. trib.com. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  • Reader's digest [chief contributing writer, Richard Marshall]; Monte Davis; Valerie Moolman; Georg Zappler (1982). Mysteries of the unexplained (Repr. with amendments ed.). Pleasantville, N.Y.: Reader's Digest Association. p. 40. ISBN 0895771462. Photo of mummy
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