[1][2][3] It was discovered in 1940 in Spirit Cave,[4] 13 miles (21 km) east[5] of Fallon, Nevada, United States, by the husband-and-wife archaeological team of Sydney and Georgia Wheeler.

In turn, its discovery and analysis gave much insight and motivation of further research into the chronology of the western great basin.

[7] The Wheelers, working for the Nevada State Parks Commission, were surveying possible archaeological sites to prevent their loss due to guano mining.

This partially mummified individual (the Spirit Cave mummy) was found to be wearing moccasins and wrapped in a rabbit-skin blanket when laid to rest.

[7] In 1996, University of California, Riverside anthropologist R. Ervi Taylor examined seventeen of the Spirit Cave artifacts using mass spectrometry.

[11][12][13][14] In March 1997, the Paiute-Shoshone Tribe of the Fallon Reservation and Colony made a Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) claim of cultural affiliation with the artifacts.

[17] In October 2015, Eske Willerslev collected bone and tooth samples from the remains with the permission of the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe.