Thursday, November 27, 2014

Ice Age infant burials found in Alaska

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The remains of two infants, which date back 11,000 years, have been uncovered at an archaeological settlement in Alaska.


Potter made the new find on the site of a 2010 excavation, where the cremated remains of another 3-year-old child were found. The bones of the two infants were found in a pit directly below a residential hearth where the 2010 remains were found.


“Taken collectively, these burials and cremation reflect complex behaviors related to death among the early inhabitants of North America,” Potter said.


In the paper, Potter and his colleagues describe unearthing the remains of the two children in a burial pit under a residential structure about 15 inches below the level of the 2010 find. The radiocarbon dates of the newly discovered remains are identical to those of the previous find–about 11,500 years ago–indicating a short period of time between the burial and cremation, perhaps a single season.


[Full story]


Story: Science Daily | Photo: Ben Potter, UAF



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