SCI/TECH: 27000 Year Old Ice Age Infants Found

The perfectly preserved skeletons of two ice age infants measuring 40 centimetres have been found buried under a mammoths shoulder blade bone in Krems, North Austria. Hailed as the first discovery of it's kind in Europe, the infants were found buried in a grave 5.5 metres below the ground on the banks of the Danube River with a pearl necklace made from mammoth ivory. The grave was next to an area that was inhabited by "homo sapiens fossilis" in ancient times.



This is a fantastic find. These children's skeletons will tell us much about the life of people 27,000 years ago. They must have been civilised to some extent as they used jewels for decoration and buried their dead.

Those poor children, I wonder how they died at such a young age.

[edit on 24-9-2005 by Mayet]

I wonder if they are mix a product of 'Homo sapiens and Neanderthal, that would be a great find.

Some experts believe that the Neanderthal blended with the new more strong emerging homo sapiens.

I read somewhere that in the coast of Spain some bones of children were found in which they look like a mix of the two homo spaiens and neanderthal.



[edit on 24-9-2005 by marg6043]

Perhaps they were used as a sacrifce to the mammoth since the pearls were made out of mammoth bone and they were found buried with a mammoth.

Excellent find, Mayet. Thanks.

Hope you update re: the DNA nalaysis.

Kudos on your work - good to see so much of it on the boards.

A very interesting find. I would also suggest that thier burial being next to a Mammoth is very intruiging indeed; however, sacrifice is something which was not contrived much later than the date of these bones.

I could be wrong, however.

Luxifero

Originally posted by Mayet
This is a fantastic find. These children's skeletons will tell us much about the life of people 27,000 years ago. They must have been civilised to some extent as they used jewels for decoration and buried their dead.

Actually, the use of such jawels and the covering of the grave by a mammoth bone is highly civilised for the time period. We are told that during this period they should be a stone-age tribe, however crafting a necklace out of bones is not an easy thing to do. Drilling the holes in fact can be very difficult.

Do you have any images of the item as I wasn't able to find one?

Originally posted by Mayet
Those poor children, I wonder how they died at such a young age.

Originally posted by Luxifero
A very interesting find. I would also suggest that thier burial being next to a Mammoth is very intruiging indeed; however, sacrifice is something which was not contrived much later than the date of these bones.

Luxifero brings up a good point however the first [major] known cases of human sacrifice I believe come from the Ancient Greeks, Aztecs, Phoenicians and Carthaginians and this was at a much later date.

Do you know what level of damage exists upon the body? Are they frozen with tissue samples intact or is it just bone?

As for people saying they could be mixed between mix homo sapiens and Neanderthal, I find this highly unlikely. I do believe gen-bank proved that their is more chance [and genetic compatability] between modern day humans and chimps than their is with a Neanderthal...in fact, I do remember an article said it was more than impossible and we would have better luck with a human and a chimp if we tried to cross breed...