Fayette County Coroner Eddie Richardson announced Monday, Oct. 13 that a 4,270-year-old skull had been found along a riverbank in Fayette County. Photo from Fayette County Coroner’s Office.

News Release

FAYETTE COUNTY — Remains including a human skull has been discovered along a riverbank in Fayette County – and its age is jaw-dropping.

Area coroner Eddie Richardson announced Monday, Oct. 13 the remains, found along Whitewater River and passed to the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department, date back to around 2,300 B.C. and are over 4,270 years old.

According to the coroner’s office, the remains likely belonged to a member of the local Shawnee or Miami tribes. Staff at the University of Georgia and University of Indianapolis Identification Center, including specialist Krista Latham, Phd, helped identify the body.

Richardson commended the landowner for quickly reported the find, noting in a a social media post that the discovery “is a powerful and humbling reminder that people have walked this land, our home in Fayette County, for millennia.”

“Due to the antiquity of the remains, the Coroner’s Office is working closely with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources,” the post continued. “We are awaiting guidance from the Indiana DNR regarding the next steps for repatriation and site management, ensuring that this ancestral discovery is handled according to cultural and legal standards.”