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Re: 9,000-Year-Old Caucasian Found in Seattle!
Bryant (mycol1@unm.edu)
14 Sep 1996 11:03:19 -0600
Ted Rosen <hamster@nas.com> posted thusly:
> 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. [snip]
The Iroquois lived in the Great Lakes area, not Washington state.
As you point out, typological races are generally described as mean values,
not ranges, for traits that show mean discontinuities between human
populations in asia, europe, africa. There is considerable overlap in many
of these traits.
Secondly, it is not at all unlikely that the carbon dating you mention is
based upon a contaminated carbon source (contaminated from an older strata of
soil), and that the skull is indeed a European, but of a younger age than
the carbon dating suggests. The skull was not carefully excavated, you
mentioned.
Bryant
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