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Oldest Skeleton In New World Discovered

Death Metal Maniac writes "Dubbed Eva de Naharon, or Eve of Naharon, the female skeleton has been dated at 13,600 years old. If that age is accurate, the skeleton along with three others found in underwater caves along the Caribbean coast of the Yucatán Peninsula could provide new clues to how the Americas were first populated. The skeletons' skulls hint that the people may not be of northern Asian descent, which would contradict the dominant theory of New World settlement. 'The shape of the skulls has led us to believe that Eva and the others have more of an affinity with people from South Asia than North Asia,' González explained."

20 of 485 comments (clear)

  1. this can't be right by halfEvilTech · · Score: 5, Funny

    Imposible, as every one in florida knows the world is only 6000 years old

  2. Oh my God! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Underwater for so long! Is she okay?

  3. Re:Silly. by Jason+Levine · · Score: 5, Funny

    The Earth *IS* only 6,000 years old. Give or take 4.54 billion years.

    --
    My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
  4. One Theory... by Liath · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've heard one theory that the Polynesians et all actually were forced out of northern Asia to the south and the east. They walked over the bridge and floated through the oceans to all the little islands, and the New World. There, they found another people, who they had to fight to survive; being from a hostile background, they were better fighters.

    So they chased the inhabitants down throughout the Americas, to the very tip of Argentina and Chile. Most of the men were killed and most of the women were taken, however several thousand took to the ocean, and floated along the West Wind Drift.. to Australia!

    (The theory was based on genetic evidence that a chickens were introduced to the New World by Polynesians, and that there is a genetic trail on some human female populations in S.A. that links them to Australians.)

  5. Re:Silly. by ByOhTek · · Score: 5, Funny

    So.... Within that margin of error, the earth may not have been created yet?

    --
    Self proclaimed typo king, and inventor of the bear destroying coffee table (patent not pending).
  6. Re:Amazing! by BitterOldGUy · · Score: 5, Funny
    McCain sure knows where to get the MILFs!

    Vote McCain - Vote MILF!

    Have you got MILF? Vote McCain!

    My personal fantasy....

    I'm McCain with a really hot MILF millionaire wife (which he already has) who wants to 'experiment'. I get a MILF of a VP and THREESOME in the Whitehouse! WoooHOOO!

  7. Re:Silly. by jimicus · · Score: 5, Funny

    What would you be if you are atheist and not an evolutionist?

    Given the body of scientific data to backup evolution theory, I believe the correct term would be "idiot".

  8. Thanks for clearing that up... by mea37 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Dubbed Eva de Naharon..."

    Huh?

    "...or Eve of Naharon

    Oh, ok, got it!

  9. Re:Duh by afabbro · · Score: 5, Funny

    I was playing Civilization the other day, doing an earth simulation and I was playing as Japan. One of my first strategies was to research Astronomy so that I could build Galleons and go colonize the Americas before anyone else could. Having colonized all of the islands in southern Asia (and Australia) it was just obvious what I had to do next. Clearly the early south Asians were thinking along the exact same lines.

    "We must research Astronomy so we can build galleons and colonize the Americas!"

    "Shut up, Oggthog, and stop drinking the fermented rice. We're almost out of Woolly Mammoth Burger and it's almost time for Volcano Appeasement Day."

    "(grumble, grumble)...one day we'll harvest steam to power great engines and link our centers of distribution..."

    "What are you talking about?"

    "Nothing dear...just sharpening my spear..."

    --
    Advice: on VPS providers
  10. Wait...SOUTH ASIA?? by andy1307 · · Score: 5, Funny

    So the first people in the Americas were south asians i.e. Indians? So should we call them Indians or native americans?

  11. Old news by Pedrito · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The skeletons were found back in 2001 and 2002 and they were carbon dated no later than 2004, probably before that, though.

    They don't say, but I suspect they're talking about the Ox Bel Ha cave system (Ox is the Mayan word for "Three" and is pronounced "Osh"), which is the largest underwater cave system in the world and it's actually something that's probably worthy of a Slashdot post in itself, if it weren't also old news.

    I lived in that area for 3 years and I'm friends with 2 of the divers that discovered and mapped the Ox Bel Ha system.

    The Yucatan peninsula is studded with sink holes called "cenotes". They're filled with fresh water (though there are areas where the salt water comes in and creates a salt/fresh water interface called the halocline, which looks wicked cool. It's kind of like oil and water) and look like a bunch of very circular ponds, except they're often fairly deep and interconnected by caves. Skeletons are a pretty common find in them, but most are far more recent (from the Mayan period) and are largely believed to be sacrificial.

    I can't find the stories now, but I recall some stories suggesting that some of the indigenous people of South America were believed to have been descendants of lost fisherman from South-East Asia. It seems plausible that there could have been groups that arrived in Mexico as well.

  12. Re:Well, it hasn't by Columcille · · Score: 5, Funny

    A billion year beta? I didn't realize Google was the creator!

    --
    I love my sig.
  13. Re:Everyone? by Kozar_The_Malignant · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The fact that someone thinks their girlfriend is pretty when others don't is a matter to live and let live. Creationists are actively trying to destroy science education in the United States and convert the government into a Christian Fundamentalist theocracy. Those are matters to be actively resisted, not tolerated.

    --
    Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
  14. Re:Everyone? by sco_robinso · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Respecting someone's right to an opinion and respecting their opinion are two completely different things. I respect other peoples right to an opinion, but that doesn't mean I have to respect the opinion itself. Quite frankly, I think that people who seriously believe in creationism need to be checked into the loonie bin.

    But I guess the whole study of paleontology is an ignorant falsehood. My bad. I'm probably the one off the mark here.

  15. Re:Everyone? by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There are some people who think their girlfriends are pretty, their children are smart, their opinions matter and that they are significant in the light of 60 years on a planet of 6.6 billion people.

    There are some things which aren't a matter of "opinion", and holding an opinion contrary to measurable fact is, well, senseless.

    People who claim the Earth is flat may have an "opinion", but since their opinion is directly falsifiable, it's not a very good opinion. It's one they hold onto irrationally in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

    The people who haven't been able to adapt their view of their creator god to actually encompass reality ... well, that just makes no sense. Heck, if the Catholic Church can accept that fossils are real and actually millions of years old, anyone fanatically clinging to the notion that the Earth is 6000 years old ... well, they're not even trying to be rational. They're just holding onto a notion and saying "la la la" when someone tries to tell them truth.

    This isn't about respecting differences in subjective things. This is about claiming that objective reality has been faked. That's just plain irrational.

    Cheers

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  16. Re:Amazing! by CaptPungent · · Score: 5, Funny

    No, he said run the country. Note the lack of "into a deep, deep hole" after those words.

    --
    C Pungent
  17. Re:Everyone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Agreed, it is time to put an end to these barbaric religions.

    I recently sent a funny email about creationist idiocy to a friend. Here's the response I got back:

    ==================
    you kid, but we Texas people know the reality of crazed parental notions. I am reminded of my first experience in small town Texas where I was told "you don't use the rod?" and the woman proceeded to pull out a leather replica of a ruler with embossing that said "the ROD of GOD" on it.

    I nearly fell out. That and the accompanying "you must spank your child until they cry with tears of repentance"

    And this regarding [name of kid kept private] who was TWO at the time and reluctant to potty train. She no more knew what sin or redemption was than she could explain quantum physics. Yet I was to punish her over lack of bowel control upon demand.
    ===================

    Really. I call for zero tolerance for "biblical" morality. You wouldn't let a kid be taught that 2 + 2 = 5, or that the earth is flat, or that the earth is the center of the solar system. Don't teach them that the bible is the full truth and spirit of an all-powerful, all-knowing being who created everything, either.

    The bible is an archaic, brutal, ridiculous text of ancient folklore. Nothing else. Seriously, read it cover to cover, not in cherry-picked bits and pieces. And if you're a christian, do not park your god-given powers of reason and logic at the door. Consider the possibility that the bible itself is the work of satan, and that God gave us reason and logic in his own image. The true religious mission is to learn about the universe from the universe itself. To hell with the bible, where it belongs.

    On second thought, carry on. My children will need some good, obedient servants when they get older.

  18. Re:Everyone? by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Funny

    Talking about the "truth" and then mentioning the catholic church essentially destroys your credibility. The whore church of babylon has NO credibility to be speaking of the truth of God's will.

    backs away without making eye contact ... OK, sure thing there chief. Whatever works for 'ya.

    Cheers

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  19. Re:Everyone? by linzeal · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The leaders of the American religious right have assembled an engine of ignorance with their attempts at subverting science and reason. These are the people who would make us fear change and progress as corruption and immorality because they know it would be their downfall at the head of the power structure if Americans were to secularize as happened in post WWII Europe. They allow their followers to believe it is immoral to deviate from a "median" or norm that they define as slavishly devout hetero couple with kids. They teach all sorts of crazy things like man should be treated as the superior to women, that priests/preacher should be greater than them and a host of saints, gods and fairy folk that are better than all mankind. This false hierarchy gives people an excuse to not look at their life and the consequences of how they live it pragmatically let alone existentially and gives them an excuse or scapegoat they can always pass the buck to instead of perfecting one's own actions, reactions and mind. These systems that tend to classify people according to supposed inborn traits are the anachronisms of the caste society they originated in 1000's of years ago and were meant to enforce obedience and subjugation to.

  20. Re:Everyone? by OwnedByTwoCats · · Score: 5, Informative

    You don't know Jack Chick

    Evolutionists don't go to court to get science taught in Sunday School. Creationists go to court to get their Sunday School taught in Science classes. That's pretty assholish...