Jun 16
JohnGenetics, North America, South America
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Two distinct groups from Asia settled in the New World and not one single migration as suggested by previous genetic studies, experts said Monday after comparing the skulls of early Americans.
Paleoanthropologists from Brazil, Chile and Germany compared the skulls of several dozen Paleoamericans, dating back to the early days of migration 11,000 years ago, with the more recent remains of more than 300 Amerindians.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100614/sc_afp/scienceusanthropologyasia_20100614225117
PLoS ONE hosts the paper.
May 20
JohnAmerican Southwest, North America, South America
Pueblo Bonito
In 1849, U.S. Army Lieutenant James Simpson was exploring northwester New Mexico when he came upon Chaco Canyon. He noted eight large ruins, seemingly built by an ancient, unknown civilization. The local Navajo’s and meztiso’s called the largest ruin, Pueblo Bonito, which means “pretty village.” Pottery shards on the soil surface of Chaco Canyon suggested that it was Native Americans who built the large masonry structures, but for several more decades, a wide range of fanciful stories accompanied interpretations of the ruins which assigned their origin to Romans, Vikings, Egyptians, Celts, Welsh and the 10 Lost Tribes of Israel.
http://www.examiner.com/x-40598-Architecture–Design-Examiner~y2010m5d17-Americas-Architectural-Heritage-Chaco-Canyon-New-Mexico–Part-2
May 20
JohnAmerican Southwest, North America, South America
Was Chaco Canyon culturally related to the Pacific Coast of South America?
In the April 1, 2010 article on the Early Farmers of the Southwest, it was pointed out that until 800 AD the architecture of the indigenous peoples of the American Southwest was quite primitive. Most structures were simple; one room homes built from adobe walls and sapling shed roofs. After 700 AD some Southwestern communities built up to fiver residential units together on isolated farmsteads.
http://www.examiner.com/x-40598-Architecture–Design-Examiner~y2010m5d16-Americas-architectural-heritage-Chaco-Canyon-New-Mexico–Part-1
Apr 21
JohnBurial, Chile, South America
Brian Handwerk
for National Geographic News
April 13, 2010
Poison-laced drinking water killed some of the world’s oldest mummies, which are found in the harsh northern deserts of Chile, a new study says.
Arsenic, which occurs in high levels in drinking water in Chile’s northern Camarones Valley (see map), the deadly element likely poisoned the coastal Chinchorro people for centuries, starting at least 7,000 years ago, mummy-hair analyses show.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/04/100412-chile-oldest-mummies-poison-arsenic/
Apr 04
JohnAtacama, Burial, South America
Andean mummies reveal arsenic poisoning afflicted people in northern Chile for thousands of years, a hair analysis shows.
In the current Journal of Archaeological Science, a team led by Bernardo Arriaza of Chile’s Universidad de Tarapaca analyzed hair from 45 Andean mummies taken from ten sites some 7,000 to 600 years old. The mummies dried in Chile’s Atacama desert region, one of the most parched regions on Earth. They were deliberately mummified with sticks, reeds and clay, given wigs and distinctive caps.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2010/03/andean-mummies-afflicted-with-arsenic-poison/1
Apr 02
JohnEuropean Conquest, Inca, South America
If bones could scream, a bloodcurdling din would be reverberating through a 500-year-old cemetery in Peru. Human skeletons unearthed there have yielded the first direct evidence of Inca fatalities caused by Spanish conquerors.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/57860/title/Inca_cemetery_holds_brutal__glimpses_of_Spanish_violence
Mar 25
JohnInca, Non-Amazonian, Pre-Inca, South America
Cusco, Mar. 24 (ANDINA).- Cusco’s National Institute of Culture (INC) workers found a ceremonial huaca in the archaeological complex of Salapunku when carrying out archaeological restoration and investigation works.
http://www.andina.com.pe/Ingles/Noticia.aspx?id=844q7VunPpk=
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