If They Live On In Us, How Can They Be Called "Extinct?"

The bottom line is that if we could breed together and produce viable offspring who could also reproduce, we were all humans despite the labels that modern science obstinantly continues to put on us; a vestige of clinging to the 19th century concept of "evolution," perhaps.  I suppose there are still scientists who are actively looking for the "missing link."  Good luck with finding something that never existed!

From popular-archaeology.com
Vol. 4 September 2011 - Print the September 2011 Issue

Neanderthals Vanished Because of Their Own Success, Suggests Study
November 17, 2011

Researchers used archaeology and complex computer modeling to develop new insights into the extinction of Neanderthals and the behavior of other human hunter-gatherers during the last Ice Age.

Using data obtained from the archaeological record, a team of researchers at Arizona State University and the University of Colorado, Denver, conducted experiments using complex computer modeling to analyze evidence of how human hunter-gatherers responded culturally and biologically to the dramatic changes that took place during the last Ice Age. The results showed, among other things, that the Neanderthals, thought by many scientists to have become extinct at least in part because of their inadaptability and inability to compete with the expanding presence of modern humans, may have actually been victims of their own success.

The researchers used the archeological record to track human behavioral changes in Late Pleistocene (126,000 - 10,000 B.P.) Western Eurasia over a period of 100,000 years and across the equivalent of 1,500 generations of human hunter-gatherers. They applied computer modeling to determine the evolutionary consequences of cultural and biological changes, which included how changes in the movements of modern humans and Neanderthals caused them to interact and interbreed with each other. The results showed that human mobility during the environmental changes associated with the Ice Age increased over time, likely in response to those environmental changes. The modeling suggested that the last Ice Age caused the ancestors of modern humans -- and Neanderthals -- to widen their ranges across Western Eurasia in search of new resources as the climate shifted.

According to study co-author Julien Riel-Salvatore of the University of Colorado, Denver, this provided new evidence that Neanderthals were more adaptable and resourceful than previously thought. Moreover, the study results suggested that the Neanderthals were gradually absorbed within the expanding modern human populations until they eventually disappeared as a distinctly separate human population and phenotype. [Are we really sure that they were ever a 'distinctly separate human population and phenotype?'  It seems that this assumption is based on our current knowledge of DNA analysis, which right now is primitive. Indeed, we're learning more nearly every day, it seems, about how alike so-called Neanderthal and so-called modern humans were - along with a third group of co-existing humans in the Far East - (China or Korea?)  Let's see what develops over the next 100 years in terms of both technology and our ability to use it to intepret existing and future evidence.]

Says Riel-Salvatore, "It's been long believed that Neanderthals were outcompeted by fitter modern humans and they could not adapt. We are changing the main narrative. Neanderthals were just as adaptable and in many ways, simply victims of their own success. Neanderthals had proven that they could roll with the punches and when they met the more numerous modern humans, they adapted again. But modern humans probably saw the Neanderthals as possible mates. As a result, over time, the Neanderthals died out as a physically recognizable population."

Michael Barton, study co-author and expert on archaeological applications to computer modeling at Arizona State University, agrees. "We tested the modeling results against the empirical archaeological record and found that there is evidence that Neanderthals, and moderns, did adapt their behaviors in the way in which we modeled," said Barton. "Moreover, the modeling predicts the kind of low-level genetic admixture of Neanderthal genes that are being found in the newest genetic studies just now being published.

Continued Barton, "In other words, successful behavioral adaptations to severe environmental conditions made Neanderthals, and other non-moderns about whom we know little, vulnerable to biological extinction, but at the same time, ensured they made a genetic contribution to modern populations."

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, a Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship and a Fulbright Graduate Student Fellowship. The paper is published in the December issue of Human Ecology as Modeling Human Ecodynamics and Biocultural Interactions in the Late Pleistocene of Western Eurasia, available online on November 17, 2011. It is co-authored by Michael Barton, Arizona State University; Julien Riel-Salvatore, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Colorado Denver; John Martin Anderies, associate professor of computational social science at ASU in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change and the School of Sustainability; and Gabriel Popescu, anthropology doctoral student at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University.

Forensic Archaeology: Excavating Tombs and Graves in Ancient Egypt

Those oh so cool academics at the University of London are at it again, darlings!  I just love Richard Barritt.  Richard, are you married or involved in a serious relationship of a romantic nature?

I wasn't able to download here the beautiful PDF announcement sent to me, unfortunately.  Here is information on the October 22, 2011 one-day workshop from The Egypt Exploration Society's website. I sure hope the registration deadline wasn't two days ago!

Excavating Tombs and Graves in Ancient Egypt

Event Info

Host: Joyce Filer / University of London
Type: Education - Lecture

Time and Place

Start Time: Saturday, 22nd October 2011, 11:00 am
End Time: Saturday, 22nd October 2011, 5:00 pm
Location: University of London, Hughes-Parry Hall
Street: Cartwright Gardens
City/Town: London WC1H 9EF
View Map

Contact Details

Email: study.egypt@virginmedia.com
Phone: 07973 695 168
Link: http://tinyurl.com/42j2keg

Description

A study day presented by JOYCE FILER BA; Dip.Arch; M.Sc; M.Sc formerly Curator of Human & Animal Remains, Dept. of Ancient Egypt & Sudan, British Museum, London

Many people believe there cannot possibly be any more ancient tombs to be found in Egypt. Would you be surprised to learn that this is not true? There really are many more tombs, graves and mummies waiting to be discovered!

If you are interested in Egyptian archaeology and want to find out.... How we know where to find burials in Egypt? How we excavate and record them? What techniques are used to examine burials? What happens to the mummies and objects we find? Then this introductory and fun study day will answer these questions and more! You can also test your knowledge in a fun practical session!

Cost: GBP40 (includes afternoon refreshments)
Please note: places are limited
booking closing date: 6 October 2011

For further information please contact Richard (details above).
TO BOOK please use the form available to download by clicking the link above.

An Easier, Cheaper Way to do DNA Sequencing of Ancient DNA

Public release date: 27-Jun-2011

Contact: Brian M. Kemp
509-335-7403
Washington State University

Undergraduate research fires salvo in simmering scientific controversy
Student publishes case for faster, less expensive DNA analysis

PULLMAN, Wash.—A Washington State University student's undergraduate research is challenging a widely held assumption on the best way to analyze old DNA in anthropological and forensic investigations.

Sarah "Misa" Runnells' claim is weighty enough to be published this week in the peer-reviewed, online journal PLoS ONE.

At issue is the best way to sequence "ancient" DNA, bits of genetic code pulled from remains up to 800,000 years old. Such remains tend to be chemically degraded, making it difficult to draw accurate connections between, say a wooly mammoth and modern animals, or Neanderthals and humans.

The techniques are also an issue in forensic investigations where remains, while relatively new, can still be severely compromised.

In 2000, researchers writing in the journal Science recommended a set of standards that emphasized cloning bits of ancient DNA to detect errors and contamination from modern DNA. [Why?]

"Those rules became gospel," says Brian Kemp, a WSU anthropologist and molecular biologist. In fact, they became so widely adopted that his preferred technique—direct sequencing—is often dismissed by journal reviewers.

"I've had papers outright rejected because they said, 'You did not clone,'" says Kemp.

Kemp wanted to demonstrate that direct sequencing worked just as well by directly comparing it to cloning, but he had a problem: He didn't have experience with cloning.

Then he met Runnells, who had learned to clone while majoring in biotechnology as a WSU undergraduate. The two used both methods to analyze 3,500-year-old northern fur seal bones.

"After five samples with both cloning and direct sequencing, we got the same answer from both methods," says Runnells, who has published under her soon-to-be married name of Winters.

Their findings even held up with one particularly degraded sample. Cloning gave conflicting DNA sequences in the sample, while direct sequencing showed gaps in the code.

"In no case did the results of one method conflict with another," says Kemp.

The PLoS ONE paper is the first published on a $595,000 grant Kemp received from the U.S. Department of Justice. One goal of the grant is to find more cost-effective ways of analyzing degraded DNA.

Direct sequencing can cost a fraction of cloning and be done in less time, says Kemp.

"That's really applicable to the justice system, where you want to save money and time," says Runnells, who is now a second-year Master's student in zoology.

"Everybody wants to save money and time," adds Kemp. "There are more forensic cases than they can work on. There's a backlog of forensic cases."

Direct sequencing can also be increasingly helpful to academic researchers in a time of shrinking budgets, says Kemp.

"If you have an infinite amount of resources and funding, you can do anything," he says. "You can clone everything a thousand times. It doesn't matter. But for the assistant professor at WSU who has a limited budget, we need to make smart choices."

###

"To clone or not to clone: Method analysis for retrieving consensus sequences in ancient DNA samples" will be available online after 2 p.m. Pacific Time (5 p.m. Eastern) on Monday, June 27, at http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0021247.

***********************************************************************

Here's a dumb question - why didn't the experts go with direct sequencing right from the get-go???  Are there any papers available online that aren't written in technical terms that I won't be able to understand to help me understand why the cloning "rules" were accepted as Gospel in 2000?

Could these teeth turn "out of Africa" theory upside down?

We live in exciting times, archaeologically, that's for damn sure.  Thank Goddess for the internet - where news like this can now be instantaly published and read by anyone who has an interest.  Here is a new twist on what we thought we thought we knew :)

Ancient teeth raise new questions about the origins of modern man
2 Feb 2011
Binghamton University

BINGHAMTON, NY – Eight small teeth found in a cave near Rosh Haain, central Israel, are raising big questions about the earliest existence of humans and where we may have originated, says Binghamton University anthropologist Rolf Quam. Part of a team of international researchers led by Dr. Israel Hershovitz of Tel Aviv University, Qaum and his colleagues have been examining the dental discovery and recently published their joint findings in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

Excavated at Qesem cave, a pre-historic site that was uncovered in 2000, the size and shape of the teeth are very similar to those of modern man, Homo sapiens, which have been found at other sites is Israel, such as Oafzeh and Skhul - but they're a lot older than any previously discovered remains.

"The Qesem teeth come from a time period between 200,000 - 400,000 years ago when human remains from the Middle East are very scarce," Quam said. "We have numerous remains of Neandertals and Homo sapiens from more recent times, that is around 60,00 - 150,000 years ago, but fossils from earlier time periods are rare. So these teeth are providing us with some new information about who the earlier occupants of this region were as well as their potential evolutionary relationships with the later fossils from this same region."

Rest of article.

Ancient Teeth Found in Israel. Credit: Rolf Quam.

It struck me just now, looking at this photograph of some of the teeth the article speaks to, that they rather resemble man's early attempts to make dice...

Revisting DNA in Polynesia Leads to Surprising Discoveries

I keep thinking about the new knowledge we will have about the movement of people and languages and cultures 25 years from now, as our scientific tools -- and our applications of those tools to existing archaeological evidence -- are re-applied to that existing evidence (as long as it does not mysteriously disappear), and new forensic techniques utilizing knowledge of multiple cross-specialities that we can't even imagine in 2011 -- come to be and are also applied to that existing evidence.  And that doesn't even begin to address what new evidence in archaeolgy, linguistics, paleo-botany, etc. etc. may come to light utilizing 21st century techniques of uncovering and analyzing ancient settlements, mathematical applications of computer algorithms to deciphering unknown languages and written symbols, etc. etc.  Oh - and advances in DNA analysis, too!  LOL!  I'll be a little old bitchy lady with a cane (and knows how to use it), still spry 25 years from now.  I don't intend to croak until I'm at least 100, and I envision a whole brave new world in 2051 and after, for my nieces and nephews and their descendants.  Yep, it won't seem at all strange then, to acknowledge that ancestors of Native Americans (from east and west) roamed Canada, the USA, Central America and South America from 50,000 BCE and maybe even before then. 

From Science Daily
Genetic Study Uncovers New Path to Polynesia
ScienceDaily (Feb. 3, 2011) — Surprising new evidence which overturns current theories of how humans colonised the Pacific has been discovered by scientists at the University of Leeds, UK


Map of Polynesia. Not from article.

The islands of Polynesia were first inhabited around 3,000 years ago, but where these people came from has long been a hot topic of debate amongst scientists. The most commonly accepted view, based on archaeological and linguistic evidence as well as genetic studies, is that Pacific islanders were the latter part of a migration south and eastwards from Taiwan which began around 4,000 years ago.

But the Leeds research -- published February 3 in The American Journal of Human Genetics -- has found that the link to Taiwan does not stand up to scrutiny. In fact, the DNA of current Polynesians can be traced back to migrants from the Asian mainland who had already settled in islands close to New Guinea some 6-8,000 years ago.

The type of DNA extracted and analysed in this kind of study is that stored in the cell's mitochondria. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is passed down the maternal line, providing a record of inheritance which goes back thousands of years. The scientists look for genetic signatures which enable them to classify the DNA into different lineages and then use a 'molecular clock' to date when these lineages moved into different parts of the world.

Lead researcher, Professor Martin Richards, explains: "Most previous studies looked at a small piece of mtDNA, but for this research we studied 157 complete mitochondrial genomes in addition to smaller samples from over 4,750 people from across Southeast Asia and Polynesia. We also reworked our dating techniques to significantly reduce the margin of error. This means we can be confident that the Polynesian population -- at least on the female side -- came from people who arrived in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea thousands of years before the supposed migration from Taiwan took place."

Nevertheless, most linguists maintain that the Polynesian languages are part of the Austronesian language family which originates in Taiwan. And most archaeologists see evidence for a Southeast Asian influence on the appearance of the Lapita culture in the Bismarck Archipelago around 3,500 years ago. Characterised by distinctive dentate stamped ceramics and obsidian tools, Lapita is also a marker for the earliest settlers of Polynesia.

Professor Richards and co-researcher Dr Pedro Soares (now at the University of Porto), argue that the linguistic and cultural connections are due to smaller migratory movements from Taiwan that did not leave any substantial genetic impact on the pre-existing population.

"Although our results throw out the likelihood of any maternal ancestry in Taiwan for the Polynesians, they don't preclude the possibility of a Taiwanese linguistic or cultural influence on the Bismarck Archipelago at that time," explains Professor Richards. "In fact, some minor mitochondrial lineages back up this idea. It seems likely there was a 'voyaging corridor' between the islands of Southeast Asia and the Bismarck Archipelago carrying maritime traders who brought their language and artefacts and perhaps helped to create the impetus for the migration into the Pacific.

"Our study of the mtDNA evidence shows the interactions between the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific was far more complex than previous accounts tended to suggest and it paves the way for new theories of the spread of Austronesian languages."

The study, which involved researchers from the UK, Taiwan and Australia, was mainly funded by the British Academy, the Bradshaw Foundation and the European Union.

See full article for citations.

Who's Your Daddy Revisited

So we thought we knew who Tut's daddy was, and the family line was now relatively firmly established, based on the last most comprehensive round of DNA analysis?  Guess again, darlings...

Royal rumpus over King Tutankhamun's ancestry
14:09 21 January 2011 by Jo Marchant

Can we be sure which mummy was the daddy? When a state-of-the-art DNA analysis of Tutankhamun and other ancient Egyptian royals was published last year, its authors hailed it as "the final word" on the pharaoh's family tree. But others are now voicing doubts.

The analysis of 11 royal mummies dating from around 1300 BC was carried out by an Egyptian team led by Egypt's chief archaeologist Zahi Hawass. The project was overseen by two foreign consultants, Albert Zink of the EURAC Institute for Mummies and the Iceman in Bolzano, Italy, and Carsten Pusch of the University of Tübingen, Germany.

The researchers used the DNA data to construct a family tree of Tutankhamun and his immediate relatives. The study, published last February in the Journal of the American Medical Association (vol 303, p 638), concluded that Tutankhamun's father was the pharaoh Akhenaten, that his parents were brother and sister, and that two mummified foetuses found in Tutankhamun's tomb were probably his stillborn daughters – conclusions that have since become received wisdom.

But many geneticists complain that the team used inappropriate analysis techniques. Far from being definitive, the study is "not seen as rigorous or convincing", says Eline Lorenzen of the Center for GeoGenetics at the Natural History Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark. "Many of us in the DNA community are surprised that this has been published."

Degraded DNA
Ian Barnes, a molecular palaeobiologist at Royal Holloway, University of London, is also concerned. "In my experience it is not very easy to get these results," he says. "I can't do it, and I've spent a long time trying."

Zink and his colleagues used a genetic fingerprinting approach that involves testing variable regions of the genome called microsatellites, which are made up of short sequence repeats. The numbers of repeats vary between individuals, and by comparing the number of repeats across several microsatellites it is possible to work out whether or not individuals are related.

However, researchers rarely attempt this approach with ancient samples because the original DNA is likely to be degraded, and dwarfed by modern contamination. It's more common to sequence mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) – cells contain around a thousand times more copies of mtDNA than of genomic DNA, improving chances of finding large intact samples.

Zink and Pusch defend their choice, saying that they took extensive precautions to guard against contamination. For instance, they extracted samples from deep inside the mummies' bones, and genotyped lab staff to rule out contamination.

Not deep enough
But others doubt the precautions were sufficiently rigorous. Robert Connolly of the University of Liverpool, UK, who carried out blood typing of Tutankhamun's mummy in the 1960s, argues that it would be difficult to reach deep enough inside Tutankhamun's thin, fragile bones – or those of the two fetuses – to reach uncontaminated material.

Lorenzen adds that many people – not just the Hawass team – have handled the mummies since they were first unwrapped. The authors should have tested non-human samples from the tombs as negative controls, she says.

To judge the quality of the team's results, Lorenzen and others are asking for access to raw data not included in the Journal of the American Medical Association paper – but Zink is reluctant to oblige, fearing the data would spark "a lot of arguing" over technicalities.

However, Zink, Pusch and colleagues insist that they will soon be able to put any doubts to rest. They say they have also extracted the mtDNA that Lorenzen and others consider necessary for rigorous genetic analysis and are still working on the data. They hope to publish the results this year.

But the critics are still advising caution. "When working with samples that are so well-known, it is important to convince readers that you have the right data," says Lorenzen. "I am not convinced."

Isis Sends News: King Tut DNA Story in National Geographic

King Tut bust. National Geographic.
Looks like Michael Jackson in later years.

Good timing guys, in conjunction with the popular "King Tut" exhibition currently at the Denver Art Museum and an expected $100 million poured into the local economy as a result of people visiting to see the exhibition and spending while in the city.

Master promoter of Egyptian antiquities (not that they need any promotion, ancient Egypt has always been a favorite with people everywhere) Zahi Hawass, Extreme High Mucky Muck of Egyptian Antiquities (he will probably have himself cloned so he never has to give up his position) wrote the National Geographic article.

Here is a nice cover article from the Summit Daily News
King Tut DNA findings
National Geographic reveals the mystery behind the boy-king
By Kimberly Nicoletti
September 5, 2010

And from the National Geographic website
Tut's Family Secrets
September 10, 2010 issue
Includes a neat graphic of Tut's family tree through his great-grandparents.

Dry English Summer Reveals Stunning Array of Sub-Surface Ruins

From Reuters
Parched English fields reveal ancient sites
LONDON | Tue Aug 31, 2010 3:59pm BST

Prehistoric circular enclosure discovered in the Holderness

area of the East Riding of Yorkshire. Archaeologists say

the site has no local parallel. Some 60 similar sites were

mapped in the area using a light aircraft in just one day.

Credit: REUTERS/Dave MacLeod/English Heritage

LONDON (Reuters) - The exceptionally dry early summer months in Britain have revealed the ghostly outlines of several hundred previously unknown ancient sites buried in fields across the English countryside.

From Roman forts to Neolithic settlements and military remains dating to World War Two, English Heritage has been busily photographing the exciting discoveries from the air.

Known as crop marks, the faint outlines of unseen buried structures emerged because of the length of the dry spell, leading the national conservator to label 2010 a vintage year for archaeology.

The outlines show up when crops grow at different rates over buried structures. Shallower soils tend to produce a stunted crop and are more prone to parching, bringing to light the new features.

"It's hard to remember a better year," said Dave MacLeod, a senior investigator with English Heritage.
"Crop marks are always at their best in dry weather, but the last few summers have been a disappointment," he said.

"This year we have taken full advantage of the conditions. We try to concentrate on areas that in an average year don't produce much archaeology."

One of this year's most important finds is a Roman camp in Dorset, southwest England. Experts say it is a relatively rare structure in that part of the country with only three others known of in the region.

The lightly built defensive enclosure, which emerged from parched barley fields, provided basic protection for Roman soldiers on manoeuvres in the first century AD.

In the Holderness area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, an area rich in agricultural land on the east coast, 60 new, mainly prehistoric sites, were found in just one day.

Archaeologists say at least 200 new historic sites have been discovered with detail on many more existing structures revealed for the first time.

At another Roman site for example, a fort at Newton Kyme in North Yorkshire, the crop marks showed stronger defensive walls built of stone three metres thick, together with a massive enclosing ditch.

English Heritage says some important structures have not been seen in their entirety since the scorching conditions of the 1976 drought.

(Writing by Stefano Ambrogi; Editing by Steve Addison)

***********************************************

The article is interesting, to be sure.  But the one comment after it I found equally fascinating.  Is there anything to the "king portraits" the poster mentioned?

I am an amateur historian, not an academic, non degreed, simply a tourist with a hobby of satellite imagery.


The English and UK countrysides are saturated with layers and layers of antiquities, many revealed using satellite imagery.


For example, Google Earth which is a free software package not only is picking up entire underwater ancient human habitats on the bottom of the oceans (try 586 miles at 300 degrees from London), but also thousands of sub-surface images beneath the English countryside.


I am speculating that this is possible because of what I call “wet shadowing”, wherein a wet field of soil will show “black or dark” in satellite imagery, while submerged stone walls will wick away the water density and show as gray lines or somewhat different colored lines.


I have found images neighboring Stonehenge and the White Horse of Uffington. England’s history goes back to before the Atlantean era(for lack of a better time epoch description)giving its surrounding areas incredible time depths.


What makes it MOST valuable is that so much of the countryside has not been destroyed by soil churning wars and bulldozers.


The most common historical element noticable is the “King and/or Queen” portrait, when the royalty or tribal chief would die, it seems a rock wall would be built in the shape of the persons facial profile, facing West, the setting sun of that time epoch. [Emphasis added].  I have found these identical King portraits EVERYWHERE!


By the way, I do add the extra step of taking the Google Earth image and color manipulating the imagein Adobe Photoshop, with each color frequency giving me different results for some strange reason.


Note, I can’t say that many people believe these theories, these images which I find. I do believe the position of the facial posture also can be used as a time and date stamp, with every 1 degree of shift from true North being 72 years of duration. In my area of Connecticut, we have many King portraits at about 30 degrees North Northwest, to me indicating probably 2160 years ago, approx. 60 BC.


Wherever bulldozers have not been used, I am finding amazing shapes in all English countrysides… give me a location, and I think I will prove my point.


edward.ziomek@yahoo.com
Stamford, Connecticut


My article on the Uffington Horse King Portraits is located at
“False Coloring in Photoshop shows Subsurface Details”
http://www.designcommunity.com/forums/post-3297150.html&highlight=uffington#3297150
Ancient, ancient, treasures are in every backyard, every golf course, every open field, in the UK…


EdZiomek

North American Mitochondrial DNA Study Reveals Surprise with More Predicted

From a press release at eurekalert.org
Public release date: 28-Jun-2010

Mitochondrial genome analysis revises view of the initial peopling of North America
June 29, 2010 – The initial peopling of North America from Asia occurred approximately 15,000-18,000 years ago, however estimations of the genetic diversity of the first settlers have remained inaccurate. In a report published online today in Genome Research (www.genome.org), researchers have found that the diversity of the first Americans has been significantly underestimated, underscoring the importance of comprehensive sampling for accurate analysis of human migrations.

Substantial evidence suggests that humans first crossed into North America from Asia over a land bridge called Beringia, connecting eastern Siberia and Alaska. Genetic studies have shed light on the initial lineages that entered North America, distinguishing the earliest Native American groups from those that arrived later. However, a clear picture of the number of initial migratory events and routes has been elusive due to incomplete analysis.

In this work, an international group of researchers coordinated by Antonio Torroni of the University of Pavia in Italy performed a detailed mitochondrial genome analysis of a poorly characterized lineage known as C1d. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is passed down through the maternal lineage, and mtDNA sequence markers are extremely useful tools for mapping ancestry. Similar to other haplogroups that were among the first to arrive in North America, C1d is distributed throughout the continent, suggesting that it may have been also present in the initial founding populations. However, C1d has not been well represented in previous genetic analyses, and the estimated age of approximately 7,000 years, much younger than the other founding haplogroups, was likely inaccurate.

To resolve these inconsistent lines of evidence, the group sequenced and analyzed 63 C1d mtDNA genomes from throughout the Americas. This high-resolution study not only confirmed that C1d was one of the founding lineages in North America 15,000 to 18,000 years ago, but revealed another critical insight. "These first female American founders carried not one but two different C1d genomes," said Ugo Perego of the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation and primary author of the study, "thus further increasing the number of recognized maternal lineages from Beringia."

These findings raise the number of founding maternal lineages in North America to fifteen. Furthermore, this work emphasizes the critical need for comprehensive analysis of relevant populations to gather a complete picture of migratory events.

Alessandro Achilli of the University of Perugia, a coauthor of the report, suggests that the number of distinct mitochondrial genomes that passed from Asian into North America is probably much higher. "These yet undiscovered maternal lineages will be identified within the next three to four years," Achilli noted, "when the methodological approach that we used in our study will be systematically applied."

Until DNA Says So, She is Not an Ancestor

Isis sent me this story when it first broke a couple of days ago, but I had hoped it would go away. But - it has not - so, Isis, here is the story, the latest version from the BBC. Lots of to-do about a "new ancestor of humans" - only, she probably is not.  Unless it can be shown that this female who is "dated" to between 48,000 to 32,000 years ago has her mitochondrial DNA present in today's humans, she cannot be an ancestor.  Amazingly, from a sliver of a finger bone artists have managed to come up with a very human-looking representation of what this ancient female looked like!  Modern reconstructive forensic science!  The miracles never cease!  This is better even than Eve being created out of one of Adam's ribs!

DNA identifies new ancient human dubbed 'X-woman'
By Paul Rincon
Science reporter, BBC News
Thursday, 25 March 2010

As I understand the current results, there is no evidence that the "X woman" contributed anything to the line of modern humans.  So - she is not an ancestor.  By scientific definition, she cannot be.  Notice, however, the use of the loaded term "woman" rather than using the more generic term "female."  "Woman" definitely connotes a human being - which the female could not be, since she shares no mitochondrial DNA with modern females according to current DNA test results.  So - let's see what the "further testing" that is planned reveals.  What will be reported in the popular press if further tests turn out to point to something other than a "modern human" connection?  Anyone want to place a bet? 

Brooklyn Museum "Unwraps" Four Mummies

Unwrapping Brooklyn's Mummies July 23, 2009 There is an interview of Edward Bleiberg, curator of Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art, and Lisa Burno, Head Objects Conservator, at the website for Archaeology Magazine, about the recent CT scans of four full mummies from the Museum's collection, the results of which yielded some surprises. dondelion and I spent a day at the Brooklyn Museum during our May visit to New York, after I managed to get past the turnstyle in the subway where we caught the number 2 train that eventually got us to our destination. It has a great collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts - I believe I read that it is the third largest collection in the United States. When we go back to New York again (which I'm sure we will), we'll spend more time there - now that I know the mystery of how to get past the subway turnstyle (hint: the Port Authority should prominently display signs advising left-handed people to swipe their fare card with the right hand!) (Photo: Taken May 17, 2009 by dondelion, a shot of the courtyard at the Brooklyn Museum. It is lined with replicas of classic columns and is used as a teaching tool for field trips of school children.)

Face to Face with Priestess Meresamun

Modern technology at work! Here are two renditions (center and right) of what Meresamun may have looked like, based upon CT scans of her mummy. The image on the left is from her mummy cartonnage case and at the time of Meresamun's death, would not have been intended to be a true representation of what she looked like (that happened much later in Egyptian history) but was, rather, an idealized image. Getting By On Her Looks "Priestess of Amun" by Eti Bonn-Muller Using crystal-clear 3-D images from Meresamun's historic scans, two forensic artists reconstruct the face of a 2,800-year-old Egyptian priestess She was more than just a pretty face. The ancient Egyptian Meresamun, who lived around 800 B.C., was a working girl, a priestess-musician who served Amun, the preeminent deity of Thebes. Her mummified remains, sealed 2,800 years ago in a skintight coffin of cartonnage (layers of linen and plaster), were examined by researchers at the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute in September 2008 using the latest in CT scanning technology, a "256-slice" machine that produced startlingly vivid images. For months, she has since been the immensely popular subject of the Oriental Institute Museum's exhibition, The Life of Meresamun: A Temple Singer in Ancient Egypt. Now, the headline-making CT images have helped two individuals--each working separately with 3-D STL (stereolithography) images of Meresamun's skull produced from the scans, but using different techniques--reconstruct Meresamun's face. Michael Brassell is a Baltimore-based forensic artist for NamUs (pronounced "name us"), the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System established by the National Institute of Justice. He created traditional hand-drawn pencil sketches (digitally colored for an "artsy" effect), using the exact same methods he employs when helping the police track down a cold-case victim. Josh Harker, a forensic artist who lives in Chicago and was originally trained as a sculptor, worked digitally, leveraging the latest software and imaging technology. "I was delighted to have two very different techniques," says Emily Teeter, an Egyptologist at the Oriental Institute Museum and curator of the Meresamun exhibition. "How often do you look at a police sketch in the paper--of some creep or some unfortunate missing person--and say, 'Yeah, I wonder if they really looked like that?' But there is a lot of similarity between the two reconstructions." The main differences, she points out, are in the shapes of the chin and the nose. "But they both have the same overbite, very much the same cheekbones, and the same shape of the eyes." Rest of article at Archaeology (online).

Did Nefertiti Have a Bump on Her Nose?

So what if she did? Cleopatra (THE Cleopatra, I believe was Cleopatra VII), also had a pronounced "Greek" bump on her nose according to her images on ancient coins, but she is still reputed as one of the most "beautiful" women in the world ever, along with Nefertiti. (Image of Nefertiti Bust: Berlin Museum). Of course, "beauty" encompasses a lot of meanings. At the risk of being absolutely prosaic, there's a reason for that old saw "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with just physical beauty - whatever that means (it changes every other year, it seems). Anyway, this is a fascinating story - sort of CSI archaeology. The famous bust of Nefertiti housed in Berlin, the one that Zahi Hawass lusts after so much to be "returned" to Egypt, underwent a high-tech CT scan recently. The scan revealed that the stone "under-sculpture" that supports the outer layer of gesso forming the face of Nefertiti with which we are all familiar, shows some decided flaws that did not show up in the final bust/portrait. Oh my, what's an archaeologist to do??? LOL! I guess they just don't understand about "before" and "after" make-overs, do they? Heh heh heh. Coverage: AFP report at Google Yahoo! News (some photos which show the underlying stone sculpture and it's "flaws")

Confirmed: The Body of Cleopatra's Sister

Is this the face of Cleopatra's younger sister, Arsinoe? She looks neither Egyptian nor black African to me - she looks like the Latina down the street. From The Sunday Times March 15, 2009 Found: the sister Cleopatra killed Forensic experts believe they have identified the skeleton of the queen’s younger sister, murdered over 2,000 years ago Daniel Foggo ARCHEOLOGISTS and forensic experts believe they have identified the skeleton of Cleopatra’s younger sister, murdered more than 2,000 years ago on the orders of the Egyptian queen. The remains of Princess Arsinöe, put to death in 41BC on the orders of Cleopatra and her Roman lover Mark Antony to eliminate her as a rival, are the first relics of the Ptolemaic dynasty to be identified. The breakthrough, by an Austrian team, has provided pointers to Cleopatra’s true ethnicity. Scholars have long debated whether she was Greek or Macedonian like her ancestor the original Ptolemy, a Macedonian general who was made ruler of Egypt by Alexander the Great, or whether she was north African. Evidence obtained by studying the dimensions of Arsinöe’s skull shows she had some of the characteristics of white Europeans, ancient Egyptians and black Africans, indicating that Cleopatra was probably of mixed race, too. They were daughters of Ptolemy XII by different wives. [So the scientists deduce that Cleopatra was of "mixed race" whatever that means these days, ha! - based on her sister's skeleton? Oh please!] The results vindicate the theories of Hilke Thür of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, who has long claimed that the skeleton was Arsinöe. She described the discovery of Arsinöe’s ethnicity as “a real sensation which leads to a new insight on Cleopatra’s family”. [Why is Cleopatra's "ethnicity" a "real sensation"???] Fellow experts are now convinced [are they?]. Günther Hölbl, an authority on the Ptolemies, said the identification of the skeleton was “a great discovery”. The forensic evidence was obtained by a team working under the auspices of the Austrian Archeological Institute, which is set to detail its findings at an anthropological convention in the United States later this month. The story of the discovery will also be the subject of a tele-vision documentary, Cleopatra: Portrait of a Killer, to be shown on BBC1 at 9pm next Monday. [Ahhhh, now the real truth comes out about this sensationalist news story - it's all about publicity for this television "special." Geez!] The institute’s breakthrough came about after it set out to examine Thür’s belief that an octagonal tomb in the remains of the Roman city of Ephesus contained the body of Arsinöe. According to Roman texts the city, in what is now Turkey, is where Arsinöe was banished after being defeated in a power struggle against Cleopatra and her then lover, Julius Caesar. Arsinöe was said to have been murdered after Cleopatra, now with Mark Antony following Caesar’s death, ordered the Roman general to have her younger sibling killed to prevent any future attempts on the Egyptian throne. [So, we don't even know for sure if Cleopatra was guilty of ordering the murder of her sister? Easy enough to blame her instead of Antony - or someone else looking to implicate Cleopatra and ruin her reputation with a rumor campaign... And yet what is the name of the upcoming t.v. special: Cleopatra: Portrait of a Killer (of her own sister, tsk tsk). How low-life can the producers get? Must have studied out of the book of Stalin.] The distinctive tomb was first opened in 1926 by archeologists who found a sarcophagus inside containing a skeleton. They removed the skull, which was examined and measured; but it was lost in the upheaval of the second world war. [????] In the early 1990s Thür reentered the tomb and found the headless skeleton, which she believed to be of a young woman. Clues, such as the unusual octagonal shape of the tomb, which echoed that of the lighthouse of Alexandria with which Arsinöe was associated, convinced Thür the body was that of Cleopatra’s sister. Her theory was considered credible by many historians, and in an attempt to resolve the issue the Austrian Archeological Institute asked the Medical University of Vienna to appoint a specialist to examine the remains. Fabian Kanz, an anthropologist, was sceptical when he began this task two years ago. “We tried to exclude her from being Arsinöe,” he said. “We used all the methods we have to find anything that can say, ‘Okay, this can’t be Arsinöe because of this and this’.” After using carbon dating, which dated the skeleton from 200BC-20BC, Kanz, who had examined more than 500 other skeletons taken from the ruins of Ephesus, found Thür’s theory gained credibility. He said he was certain the bones were female and placed the age of the woman at 15-18. Although Arsinöe’s date of birth is not known, she was certainly younger than Cleopatra, who was about 27 at the time of her sister’s demise. The lack of any sign of illness or malnutrition also indicated a sudden death, said Kanz. Evidence of the skeleton’s north African ethnicity provided the final clue. Caroline Wilkinson, a forensic anthropologist, reconstructed the missing skull based on measurements taken in the 1920s. Using computer technology it was possible to create a facial impression of what Arsinöe might have looked like. [She reconstructs the skull based on measurements of a missing skull that we have no idea were actually accurate, and from there she "reconstructs" a face. Some people accuse Goddesschess of being "out there" with our theories about the origins of chess, but we haven't tried any stunts like this one!] “It has got this long head shape,” said Wilkinson. “That’s something you see quite frequently in ancient Egyptians and black Africans. It could suggest a mixture of ancestry.” Hmmmm, does this mean those recently discovered "elongated skulls" found in Siberia are a mixture of ancient Egyptians and black Africans, too???

Mummy Dearest

Poor Mummy! Story from the Otago Daily Times (Dunedin, New Zealand) Mummy facing up to more scrutiny By John Gibb on Wed, 14 Jan 2009 However the Otago Museum's bandage-swathed mummy may have looked 2300 years ago, it certainly wasn't like film star Elizabeth Taylor. But Taylor's memorable portrayal of Cleopatra in the movie of the same name has left its mark, Dave Wright, the museum's collections, assets and research director, said yesterday - so much so that many people think any female Egyptian mummy would look like her. The museum will reveal more of its mummy's secrets at its "Egypt Unwrapped" day on January 28. A non-intrusive CT scan of the mummy at Dunedin Hospital in 2000, which was used to create a three- dimensional computer model, showed the mummified woman was not exactly a raven-haired beauty when she died. She had only six teeth and was likely to have been racked with pain from severe gum disease, including abscesses. She was aged about 35 - at a time when many people did not live much beyond 40 - and is believed to have been middle-class. Carbon-dating of linen from the mummy's wrappings and other analysis shows she lived during the Ptolemaic period (323BC to 30BC). The mummy was bought in Egypt by Dunedin businessman and philanthropist Bendix Hallenstein and given to the museum in 1893. On the Egypt theme day, museum visitors will see what University of Otago forensic specialists and others have done to reconstruct a facial likeness using only the skull of an unidentified person. Late last year, they used the 3D computer model of the mummy's skull to cast an exact copy in resin. This will be displayed, along with two plaster heads cast from it. They will be covered in clay, with a computer program used to calculate facial soft-tissue depths on the face and head. One head will be painted with skin-like tones to give an impression - believed to be about 95% accurate - of the Egyptian woman's appearance. This Saturday, the museum will also launch a contest encouraging the public to draw their predicted likeness of her. Mr Wright said the project was applying science to the mysteries of the past. "There's a hint of seeking the unknown."

Mummy Murder Mystery

The headline from The Sunday Mercury goes one better: "Museum Mummy Murder Mystery" - presented for your entertainment: Dec 15 2008 By Ben Goldby IT is the murder mystery which has spanned thousands of years. Archaeologists have long questioned how an unidentified man entombed in a 1,700-year-old mummy at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery met his death. Now they hope the macabre case may finally be solved with the help from medical experts from the Midlands. The elaborately-bandaged Greco-Roman mummy, with gilt terracotta studs, was donated to the museum in the 1920s by Albert Phillips, a Birmingham bedstead maker who often travelled to the Middle East. Results from previous X-rays revealed an unidentified metal object lodged in the back of the mummy’s neck, which some archaeologists believe may be an arrow head – meaning he could have been murdered. On Friday the mummy was sent to Stafford Hospital to undergo a full CT scan which will provide 3D images which may finally help establish a definitive cause of death. The mummy is believed to contain the remains of a male in his mid-30s, but his identity is another unsolved mystery. An amateur archaeologist came up with the scan plan after attending an event at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery earlier this year. Robert Loynes – an Egyptology enthusiast and former orthopaedic consultant – recommended the unusual experiment when he discovered that the earlier X-ray had spotted the mysterious metal object. He suggested that the mummy be sent to Stafford Hospital, which houses highly sophisticated CT scanning equipment that may help to establish what happened to the man beneath the bandages. Two other mummies from Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery’s collections, called Padimut and Namenkhetamun, and two mummified heads were also CT scanned at the hospital on Friday. As well as providing 3D images, the X-rays could offer information on how old the people were when they died, their gender, what they may have looked like, their skeletal structure, their teeth and other fascinating facts about their lives. The scans, which have been partly funded by an anonymous sponsor, may also reveal jewellery and other trinkets that could be concealed within the mummies’ wrappings. Stafford Hospital’s strict infection control procedures were strictly observed throughout the procedures, with the mummies kept inside sterile body bags to prevent dust escaping from the ancient remains. Results from the imaging will now be analysed by a crack team of forensic Egyptologists from Birmingham Museum, but it could still be several weeks before the mystery is finally solved. For further information on the mummies, or any of the other exhibitions at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, visit www.bmag.org.uk

DNA To Be Used To Identify Headless Killer

Oh, here we go, CSI type science being put to really good use :) LOL! DNA to Decide if Headless Killer Faked Her Death Dave Mosher LiveScience Staff Writer LiveScience.com Thu Jan 10, 3:46 PM ET Police found the headless body of Belle "the Black Widow" Gunness, perhaps the most infamous female serial killer in history, in the basement of her burned-out Indiana farmhouse in 1908. Yet nearly 100 years after the killer's corpse was buried, no one is certain that it belongs to Gunness; many think the Norwegian immigrant faked her own death and fled to California to continue her killing streak for another 23 years. To put the mystery to rest, University of Indianapolis researchers are comparing DNA from the now-exhumed body to cells stuck to letters that Gunness sent to cash-heavy male suitors — all of whom probably ended up buried behind the house, said Andrea Simmons, a graduate student in human biology leading the forensic investigation. "Gunness has got to be the most prolific female serial killer in history," Simmons told LiveScience. "She clearly killed 25 people, arguably 40, in less than a decade but we're not sure when she died. We're trying to put a lid on this case." Simmons explained that relatives of those Gunness allegedly killed for their money want to know exactly what happened to the legendary killer. She is said to have relied on poison for most of her crimes, which reportedly include offing both her husbands and all her children. "People who die at the hands of killers leave behind family who want answers to unsolved crimes," Simmons said. "There aren't many historical cases where we can get answers. This is unique. We now have the ability to solve this with modern forensics." Escape artist? Theories of famous people faking their deaths abound in popular culture, for instance tales have long circulated about John Gotti and Elvis, but Simmons said evidence of a possible Gunness con is compelling. "Days before the fire, she bought five gallons of kerosene and made a lot of noise in town about her farm hand plotting to kill her," Simmons said. Simmons noted that the suspect activities happened shortly after rumors of men showing up at Gunness' door and never being seen again started to circulate around her small town of La Porte, Indiana. But perhaps the strangest inconsistency in Gunness' story, Simmons explained, is that the body found in the basement had no head and rested next to the charred bodies of two children. "Without the head, the county coroner was uncomfortable pronouncing her dead," Simmons said. The convicted farm hand — Ray Lamphere — was locked away in prison for the rest of his life after the fire, but always maintained from his cell that Gunness had cheated authorities. The theory that she fled to California emerged after a woman matching Gunness' description was arrested in 1931 for poisoning a Norwegian man. "She would have been in her early seventies at the time, so it's not impossible," Simmons said. "Before Indiana authorities could get to California and see if they could identify her, she died of tuberculosis in prison and was buried." That's where DNA, the blueprint of life unique to each person, comes in handy. Genetic sleuth Simmons, a prosecutor who decided mid-career to pick up a biology education, said her team has collected bone samples from the bodies recovered from the basement of the Gunness farm, and expects to extract DNA from them. They plan to compare the samples to those extracted from cells stuck in the glue of envelopes Gunness mailed to her prey. "We have several original envelopes she sent to suitors, so that's our best shot for getting her DNA," Simmons said. She added that she and her colleagues also plan to sample DNA from an unidentified head thought to belong to Gunness' suspected body. The head has been "rolling around in a filing cabinet" at the local county museum for decades, Simmons said. Although Simmons is concerned that her team might not be able to get DNA from the envelopes, she's confident some one will be able to. "If we can't extract DNA, a commercial lab should be able to," she said, but noted that it's cheaper for her team to extract DNA for commercial sequencing at about $100 per sample than having some one else do it, which costs about $300 to $400 per sample. Simmons hopes to get the genetic results back by April, when she will help lead a ceremony to put headstones on the graves of Gunness' alleged victims. If the DNA from the body doesn't match that extracted from Gunness deadly love letters, she said the investigation will likely pick up in California with the other suspected body of the killer. "At this point, I'm just waiting for the science to tell whether or not the body belongs to Belle [Gunness]," Simmons said. "If she did die in that farmhouse fire, it raises a lot of questions of how it all happened. If not, we can say this serial killer fled in the night, faked her death and probably led a full life."