[Beernoser]

I saw a guy on C-Span a few months ago doing a lecture about his book on this dead guy and others like him. There are about 15 (if I remember right) skeletons or fragments that have been found that were considerably older than the Indians were thought to be.

Some things I remember

1. No woman skeleton has been found over 21 years old. Each woman skeleton had severe malnutrition evidence in her bones. Men were considerably older and healthier. The thinking was maybe the individuals had to fend much more for themselves rather than be in family groups. The guy did statistics about how many children a woman would have to have to keep up a breeding population and said this group could barely do it.

2. Some of the skeletons showed signs of violence.

3, The conclusion was these guys came from a wave of immigration before the Indians. They had a very inefficient social system so that when the Indians arrived, they had already died off, or were quickly wiped out.

It was fascinating. I only wish knew more about the subject.

[blam]

"It was fascinating. I only wish knew more about the subject."

Yup. That may have been James C. Chatters, this is all contained in his book Ancient Encounters. Chatters did most of the work on Kennewick Man. Buhl Woman fits into this category and there are others, some in South America too. Christy Turner has done some interesting work with teeth that supports the 'pre-Indian' Kennewick Man type group. This group most resembles the Ainu/Jomon from the areas around Japan.