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The man who died half a million years ago
Current Archaeology ^

Posted on 10/05/2007 4:25:03 AM PDT by Renfield

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To: Docbarleypop
my dating techniques, while not always accurate, generally involve rodents and other small woodland creatures.

OK, so my attempted pun fell flat.

I meant 'dating' as in 'romance, dinner and a movie, long walks in the moonlight' type dating.

Unless your 'rodents' refers to "Mickey Mouse" and the Magic Kingdom? ;-)

Cheers!

41 posted on 10/06/2007 8:35:00 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: grey_whiskers

your pun didnt fail, but my counter pun was lost.


42 posted on 10/07/2007 7:08:26 AM PDT by Docbarleypop (navy doc)
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To: Docbarleypop
your pun didnt fail, but my counter pun was lost.

my dating techniques, while not always accurate, generally involve rodents and other small woodland creatures.

Being a feral feline, maybe I got distracted by the thought of all those tasty mice. (Look at the picture at the top of my FReeper home page).

I apologize.

Could you please explain?

43 posted on 10/07/2007 7:35:25 AM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: grey_whiskers

no worries, just a couple of mice hunters i guess.


44 posted on 10/07/2007 6:39:40 PM PDT by Docbarleypop (navy doc)
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To: BenLurkin; Coyoteman; Max in Utah; All

The article refers to bone from a robust individual, very active.

Given sexual dimorphism [the fact that hominid males are typically larger than hominid females] perhaps they made this conclusion from this bone being larger than would be expected for a female of this species. Also, wouldn’t the activity patterns developed in the bone be different for an adult hunting male in his prime compared with those of a female living a less, or differently active way of life?


45 posted on 10/07/2007 7:26:11 PM PDT by gleeaikin
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To: gleeaikin
Given sexual dimorphism [the fact that hominid males are typically larger than hominid females] perhaps they made this conclusion from this bone being larger than would be expected for a female of this species. Also, wouldn’t the activity patterns developed in the bone be different for an adult hunting male in his prime compared with those of a female living a less, or differently active way of life?

Those are indeed the types of considerations that I would expect the experts to be using.

There are a variety of shape differences in the bones between male and female, but I don't think the tibia (the article said "shin bone") has many of those.

I would guess that size and muscle markings may have been more important. (But then I haven't studied fossils since grad school, so they may have something new.)

46 posted on 10/07/2007 7:41:01 PM PDT by Coyoteman (Religious belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge.)
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To: grey_whiskers

Thank you for that absolutely hysterical link. I am writing a book that takes place in 1902. The French family would have taken regular trips from Martinique to Paris in the previous years, so I think this will be an amusing couple of pages in my book. Cheers, and am I glad I was not wearing a corset.


47 posted on 10/07/2007 7:43:30 PM PDT by gleeaikin
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To: gleeaikin
Glad you liked it. :-)

Cheers!

48 posted on 10/07/2007 8:12:51 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: gleeaikin
Oh, BTW...Martinique in 1902 -- I hope you mention Mt. Pelee .

People need to know that pyroclastic flow did not original with Rosie O'Donnell :-)

Cheers!

49 posted on 10/07/2007 8:14:44 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: grey_whiskers

Yes the historical novel is about the eruption of Mt Pelee as well as the other 4 volcanos around the Caribbean Plate that were active that year, and the influence it had on deciding to put the Panama Canal in Panama and not in Nicaragua. I have been studying a lot about volcanoes, and plan to make the book as scientifically accurate as I can.


50 posted on 10/07/2007 8:34:13 PM PDT by gleeaikin
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To: gleeaikin
Please let me know, I'll buy a copy...

Cheers!

51 posted on 10/07/2007 9:52:59 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: Coyoteman

you are absolutely right about using minor items such as beertabs and the like for dating in situ items. in deetz’ “in small things forgotten” Deetz uses items that are obviously trash items such as clay pipes, tin cans, and nails to try to turn historical archaeologists from searching only for big finds and shows how these seemingly mundane items are probally more usefull in creating a description of a site than say a beautiful intact vase or its like.


52 posted on 10/09/2007 9:30:26 AM PDT by Docbarleypop (navy doc)
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53 posted on 11/02/2007 9:23:42 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Monday, October 22, 2007. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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