February 25, 2015

New Discoveries on the Most Ancient Human Remains in Texas

A man and girl were buried at the Horn Shelter Site in Texas 11,100 years ago. Smithsonian is analyzing the bones and grave goods, and Harvard is looking at the DNA. The 40 year old male had a medicine bundle of red ochre pigment, seashells, badger claws, hawk talons, turtle shells. His arms appear to be those of a drummer. The 11 year old girl may have been sacrificed to accompany the shaman into the afterlife. The turtle shells were placed over the man’s face and under his head, and the grave is in the shape of a turtle. There is a sharpened coyote tooth used for scarification. The skeletons were found in 1970.
(My note; This is one of the frustrations on dealing with the ancestry of ancient Americans, it takes so long for studies to commence. Only now, after 44 years are DNA and other extensive studies being done on the earliest bodies ever found in Texas.)
The WacoTrib has the story with photos here;
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/higher_education/smithsonian-sheds-light-on-shaman-and-girl-buried-on-the/article_fec2b8c9-e100-5082-a1e1-5791025981f3.html?mode=jqm