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9,000-Year-Old Caucasian Found in Seattle!
Ted Rosen (hamster@nas.com)
Sat, 14 Sep 1996 07:15:06 GMT
Excuse me for failing to produce newspaper accounts of this event, but
it seems there's some debate about an ancient skull found in Kendall
Park in King County, Washington.
Workers were digging in the area and unearthed the skull, which was
ferried off to UW for analysis. The scientists in question (sorry, no
names yet) pegged this ancient skull as being undoubtedly caucasian. I
believe he made this determination by involving some of the well-known
tests for skull size/diameter and dentition.
Other researchers felt the skull was unusual for the known dwellers of
the ancient Northwest, notably ancient members of the quasi-mongoloid
Iriquios.
As you might expect, armchair Euro-buffs immediately began to cite the
possibility of sea-faring Europeans finding themselves hopelessly
marooned among the ancient tributaries and maze-like features of the
ancient Puget Sound.
On one talk show, Norsemen were cited as the possible explorers and
the C-14 dating methods questioned. Never mind that the Erickson's
adventures took place circa 1000 BP; the scientists must be wrong.
As an amateur anthropologist, I'm intrigued, but convinced that the
skull is not caucasian. I'm led to understand that subtleties in form
are determined by averaging large numbers of specimens to forge a
framework for classification. And we all know that not all whites have
sharp noses and not all ancient American Indians had flat teeth.
If anyone has any news inre this story, I'd love to hear it. In the
meantime, I'll cull the local rags for more info.
- TR
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