Saturday, February 26, 2011

The Oldest Kid In America

The release is here, but the paper itself can be found here. Above are some of the tools found at the site:

A reasonable sequence of events at USRS can be inferred from these data. A small social group, including adult females and young children, foraged from their residential base camp in mid-summer, acquiring locally available fish, birds, and small mammals. The pit was dug within the house and functioned as a cooking hearth, cooking debris disposal area, and/or cache pit. The child died and was placed within the pit, with little evidence of disturbance after cremation. The pit was backfilled soon after burning, and the relative lack of artifacts atop the pit fill suggests immediate abandonment of the house (Fig. 3).

And, if you remember that "oldest skull cup" story from a week or so ago...well, the full paper, which appears here, contains a discussion of the "defleshing" techniques employed. So, yeah... instructions for making one of your own.

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