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bajalera
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Peninsula Archaeology [2]
[Continuation]
Brief mention of human skeletons from Cape Region caves had been reported since the 1630s, but the first deliberate and careful collections of human
remains were made in 1883, by an American naturalist who specialized in birds, Lyman Belding, and a Dutch physical anthropologist, Dr. Herman F. C.
ten Kate ["10 KAH-tay"]. After arriving in Baja California separately, the two men explored the peninsula together and also made side trips alone.
In the burials ten Kate and Belding reported, flesh had been removed from the bones before they were buried. Some of the defleshed bones had then
been painted with red pigment, wrapped in palm fiber and tied into a bundle.
Another careful investigator, a French chemist/naturalist employed at El Boleo copper mines in Santa Rosalia, Leon Diguet ["dee-GAY"], recovered
similar burials, and also reported some unusual burials on Isla Espiritu Santo, where Indians had laid the dead in shallow rectangular excavations,
which they bordered with rocks.
The few artifacts included in these early collections weren't unusual enough to attract interest. What really got the attention of scientists,
instead, was the shape of the skulls.
By 1890, it had been established that the crania of Native Americans, as well as those of their ancestors, were almost universally round and broad
[bracheocephalic]. The skulls from the Cape Region, however, were exceptionally long, with unusually high sides [hypsodolichocephalic].
Similar skulls had been unearthed here and there, at a few sites in both North and South America, but they hadn't been expected to turn up in Baja
Callifornia (a place that even in those days had its own special mystique).
Newspapers heralded the long-headed skulls as a sensationasl discovery, and serious researchers eventually described them in scientific journals.
No Mexican researchers rushed to the Cape Region to do fieldwork in the the early 1900s, however--for good reason.
Archaeologists, with a few notable exceptions, are quite as human as the rest of us, and archaeologists working on the Mexican mainland were
continuing to unearth finely wrought gold jewelry, handsomely decorated pottery, spectacular carvings, and other creations made by skilled,
sophisticated artisans. And there were pyramids to investigate,
Moreover, mainland sites where attractive artifacts could be found were often near--sometimes even in--towns that had hotels and restaurants, as well
as theaters and cantinas and other venues offering evening entertainment.
In the days of ten Kate, Diguet and Belding, Baja California might as well have been the island it was once reputed to be. Getting there from the
scholarly institutions of Mexico City in 1900 required miles of travel on wagon roads, followed by boat passage across the Gulf (and there was no
scheduled service).
Once researchers arrived, the peninsula offered them long-headed red-painted skeletons and very littl else, especially in the way of creature
comforts.
[To be continued]
[Edited on 4-19-2008 by bajalera]
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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comitan
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check your u2u
Strive For The Ideal, But Deal With What\'s Real.
Every day is a new day, better than the day before.(from some song)
Lord, Keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth.
“The sincere pursuit of truth requires you to entertain the possibility that everything you believe to be true may in fact be false”
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Taco de Baja
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Some recent info on the early Baja inhabitants:
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From: Science News, Vol. 164, No. 10, Sept. 6, 2003, p. 150
Continental Survivors: Baja skulls shake up American ancestry
Bruce Bower
Around 600 years ago, the Pericú people roamed the southern tip of what is now Mexico's Baja peninsula, a finger of land that extends below
California. Although the Spanish conquest spelled their demise in the 16th century, the Pericú were living links to America's first settlers,
according to a new anthropological study.
Pericú skulls closely resemble 8,000- to-11,000-year-old human skulls unearthed in Brazil, say Rolando González-José of the University of Barcelona,
Spain, and his colleagues. The Brazilian skulls look strikingly like those of today's Australian aborigines (SN: 4/7/01, p. 212: http://www.sciencenews.org/20010407/fob1.asp). Moreover, the scientists contend, the data indicate that the Pericú were unrelated to modern Native
American and eastern Asian groups.
FACING BACK. Two views (above and below) of a skull from a Baja population that may illuminate the settlement of the Americas.
González-José
These findings support the scientists' theory that both the first Americans, who arrived at least 12,000 years ago, and the first Australians, who
showed up down under around 40,000 years ago, have a common root in southern Asia. A second wave of American settlers, the ancestors of present-day
Native Americans, immigrated from northeastern Asia a mere several thousand years ago, González-José's group concludes in the Sept. 4 Nature.
That scenario clashes with the traditional view that both the initial and later waves of American settlers came from northeastern Asia.
"Slowly, we are realizing that the ancestry of the Americas is as complex and as difficult to trace as that of other human lineages around the world,"
comments anthropologist Tom D. Dillehay of the University of Kentucky in Lexington.
González-José and his coworkers compared measurements of 33 Pericú skulls housed at a Mexican museum with those of 22 ancient Brazilian skulls and
hundreds of skulls from a worldwide sample of contemporary groups.
The Baja and Brazilian skulls exhibit telling similarities, the investigators say. These include long, narrow braincases and short, thin faces, a
pattern akin to that of modern inhabitants of southern Asia and South Pacific islands.
The Pericú and the ancient Brazilians were descendents of America's initial settlers, the scientists propose. After the last ice age ended around
10,000 years ago, they add, the expansion of a desert across the middle of the Baja peninsula isolated the Pericú from other Native American groups.
Some of the continent's first arrivals probably traveled south along the Pacific coast from Alaska to reach the Baja peninsula's southern tip,
González-José says. Researchers typically theorize that after trekking through Alaska, the first Americans headed south through an inland ice
corridor.
It's still unclear whether the Baja population descended from the continent's ancient settlers or grew to resemble prehistoric Brazilians by virtue of
adapting to a New World environment that's similar to Brazil's, Dillehay says.
According to archaeologist David J. Meltzer of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, the next step is to extract DNA from the Baja and Brazilian
skulls and determine whether the two groups had close genetic ties. For now, Meltzer remains convinced by skeletal and archaeological evidence that
points to Siberia as the homeland of America's first settlers.
References:
Dillehay, T.D. 2003. Tracking the first Americans. Nature 425(Sept. 4):23-24. Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/425023a.
González-José, R., et al. 2003. Craniometric evidence for Palaeoamerican survival in Baja California. Nature 425(Sept. 4):62-65. Abstract available at
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature01816.
Further Readings:
Bower, B. 2001. Early Brazilians unveil African look. Science News 159(April 7):212. Available at http://www.sciencenews.org/20010407/fob1.asp.
Sources:
Tom D. Dillehay
Department of Anthropology
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40506
Rolando González-José
Universitat de Barcelona
Facultat de Biologia
Secció d'Antropologia
Diagonal 645
08028 Barcelona
Spain
David J. Meltzer
Department of Anthropology
Southern Methodist University
Box 750336
Dallas, TX 752750336
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http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20030906/fob8.asp
And more in this 2 page Nature article:
| Quote: |
News and Views
Nature 425, 23-24 (4 September 2003) | doi:10.1038/425023a
Palaeoanthropology: Tracking the first Americans
Tom D. Dillehay1
Abstract: A study of 33 ancient skulls excavated from Mexico invites us to reconsider our view of the ancestry of the early Americans. Unlike most
other early American remains, the skulls resemble those from south Asian populations. |
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v425/n6953/full/425023a...
Truth generally lies in the coordination of antagonistic opinions
-Herbert Spencer
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Cypress
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Taco de Baja, Thanks for the information.
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Iflyfish
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This is a fascinating and contentious topic. Thank you very much for posting it.
Having worked in the field of Functional Neuroimaging, QEEG, and in Neurofeedback I have had to learn a lot about brain function.
It is clear, but often ignored physiological fact that male and female human brains are different. We have gone through a period of political
correctness that has put a damper on some areas of social science related to functional neurology.
In my opinion we are not yet ready to have a legitimate dialogue about the significance of these field findings. Function follows form and from
influences function, just as the human gene exists in potential and evolves in interaction with the environment. Why are these skulls shaped
differently? What were the circumstances that required this sort of morphology? It is entirely possible now for us to make real life models of the
brains of these skulls, computer programs exist to do this very task and computer programs exist to generate models that would show us which areas of
the brains were more or less evolved.
What are the implications of having a skull that does not allow much room for the frontal lobes? What are the implications of a skull that has more
brain material available to the occipital (visual cortex) and temporal regions (involved in language). What about increased capacity in the parietal
lobes, where mathematical processes and as well as certain emotional capacities are to be found? What do the brains of Aztecs look like compared to
less war like brains? Discreet function is found in discreet areas. One can make generalizations about these things and I look forward to the time
when scientists start to do this. These statements are of course generalizations and it is clear that the brain is redundant and can mobilize other
areas to carry out functions of areas that have been damaged, it is in other words a very plastic organ, however there are gross anatomical features
that one can elaborate on.
Asian skulls are more box shaped and allow for more brain matter to be carried in the skull. Imagine the flack that will fly for some with a statement
like this? Is there an anatomical reason as well as a cultural reason why Asians in the US are doing so well in Math and Science? My jury is out, but
I would welcome some real research into these fascinating areas of difference. Is there a anatomical reason why German trains run on time and they
never do in Italy or Spain, I know, gross generalizations, but there are truths to be found in stereotypes.
What are the implications of the shape of the early Baja brains vs. those found on the mainland? What role did skull binding play in the development
of Aztec culture? What happened to the displaced frontal lobes? Did they evolve normally or not? Interesting.
It appears that a lot of the early material to be found in the Baja was looted or lost over time. Was there a higher order of social, cultural,
artistic development that has been lost to us?
It is clear from drug screens of the Pharos that new age psychoactive plants were found in the mummies. They came from Mesoamerica. How did they get
there? What of the chickens found in South America that are only found in Asia? Did the Chinese drop some off or trade them in the 15th century, how
about earlier. The Chinese learned to navigate using the Southern Cross, not used till perhaps the time of Magellan in the West.
Very interesting stuff.
Thanks,
Iflyfish
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Osprey
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Rick, Let me boil your soup a little, render it, as it were. Dichlocephalic, elongated skulls, got that way because the brains had to solve longer
puzzles; longer figuring, longer brains, longer brain pans. A de mas, in the tropics things move slowly and need long, leisurely thoughts before
action. I've even found this to be the case at my house (even all of this evolving stuff).
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Iflyfish
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It is clear from reading your writing about the shrinking you have noticed...why are we always the last to know.
Like your rendering and thinking. The frontal lobes are very much involved with forward thinking, cause and affect and mediating emotions. These are
qualities that one would not need much of if your life evolved around abundant food and temperate climates. They appear to have been the third and
last major area to develop in humans. Reptile brain came first, and we still have it, a neurocortex and sensory motor strip designed to problem solve
and manipulate a complex set of muscles as well as engage in more complex and creative activities. Reading Daniel Amen's site on the brain offers an
excellent tutorial on the subject.. brainplace.com I think.
Wonderful flan up there in that hard box eh?
Nice topic for a cold brew and nice sun set, hope you have both.
Iflyfish
Give me the tappa cloth loin cloth, a good coconut tree, a mango tree, and while you are at it some fresh water running into a lagoon with clams and
bait fish and I would gladly exchange my tutonic skull that evolved in a cold climate and in harsh conditions. More malatonin optional but a very nice
adaptation, thank you.
Iflyfish
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bajalera
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OOOOPS My thread's been hijacked. That's what I get for posting dull stuff.
The Science News and Nature pieces on the Baja skulls created quite a stir a few years back, and were interesting. The focus of the research, though,
was limited to theory--specifically, the implications of the skulls. There is no mention of the artifacts [one of them particularly puzzling] that
accompanied those 33 skulls as grave goods.
I'll get around to the skulls and the Melanesian-migration theory of Paul Rivet in another chapter, but the one being posted here in installments is
about dirt archaeology.
Why the first archaeological investigations were carried out by foreigners rather than Mexican archaeologists.
What it was like to do any kind of scientific fieldwork in Baja in pre-highway days.
The cave cemeteries and the artifacts found with the burials.
[The next part will really make your eyes glaze over.]
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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Iflyfish
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My eyes have not glazed in the least, a very exciting and stimulating post for me!
Thanks,
I will shut up for a while and listen more to what you have to say, great stuff!
Iflyfish
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Photog
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Thank you...
NOT dull stuff at Bajalera!! Excellent topic, excellent posts from everyone!!...thank you!!
Taco de Baja: Nice job, well done! Love all those references and sources for further reading!
Iflyfish: | Quote: | | We have gone through a period of political correctness that has put a damper on some areas of social science related to functional neurology.
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As we're all aware, not just in the social sciences; many fields of science suffer from debate being curtailed, or prohibited, because of "PC"
considerations, or the topic becoming completely politicized. In particular, climate science. This to the detriment of all scientific endeavor.
Science is not about consensus or political considerations; it is about open, and ongoing, debate. Unfortunately, containing, curtailing, or shutting
down scientific debate for a particular topic has the effect of relegating the issue to politics, instead of science. IMHO.
While the human origins issue in north American and Mexico is certainly a hot topic for debate, evolution of animal and plant species in Baja
following desertification certainly has produced undeniable results similar to the evolution of various island species around the world. Evolution in
isolation produces some amazing results!
Great post Iflyfish, very insightful, thank you sir!
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Iflyfish
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I read a fascinating book entitled 1421
http://www.1421.tv/
It recounts the epic around the world exploration by the Chinese in a gigantic fleet of huge boats that required the denuding of the forests of Viet
Nam to build. This may have been the largest expedition of its sort in the history of the world.
This fleet was sent out upon the completion of the Forbidden City. During the voyage a lightning bolt struck the central building of the Forbidden
City and was destroyed by fire. The fleet returned to a much different circumstance in which the expansionist ways of the Emperor were seen as
bringing down the wrath of the gods. So the powers that be in China set about to systematically destroy all records of this journey. It appears that
Magellan may have used maps from this sailing to learn how to navigate using the Southern Cross.
This is a fascinating study and it can account for the fact that chickens with unique genes from china are found in South America.
Are the skulls related to this expedition? Were there previous expeditions? Were there other trade routes between the old and new world?
Fascinating topic.
Iflyfish
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bajalera
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I've got that book, an interesting read.
About the skulls, who knows?
Evidence that the ancestors of the Pericu came from Melanesia doesn't seem to hold water, but it has livened up La Paz parades.
Rivet's publications on the Melanesian/Pericu connection are the reason why some parade floats feature dancing girls wearing plastic grass skirts and
bras.
Way more attractive than the fiber-cord skirts and capes that Pericu women actually wore.
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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wilderone
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Are you considering that elongated skulls had nothing to do with the contents or evolution, but a result of cranial binding http://wiki.bmezine.com/index.php/Cranial_Binding
which was practiced in South America as well as other places (migration to North America). Humans shaping their skulls was an ancient practice.
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Osprey
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Lera, keep em coming. Never dull, fascinating subject. I subscribe to the people coast hopping in boats theory in my book about the Baja California
cave painting >> not so far fetched in the scientific community now. See www.ljmu.ac.uk/BIE/83879.htm
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Iflyfish
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wilderone. the skulls don't look bound but rather like they have a greater capacity, as the bound ones look smaller and longer. I also think it is bs
to say that the person who had this done to them came out NORMAL! Deforming the brain in this way is bound to have consequences. There is traumatic
brain trauma caused in an act so simple as heading a soccer ball, I have an image of an Australian soccer player with a soccer ball distorting the
shape of his scull on impact.
Opsprey's link points to the Olmec and they clearly had negroid features.
Iflyfish
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Baja Bernie
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Lee
So glad that you finally got around to posting this stuff...I believe the last time we talked about this stuff was with Don Jimmy Smith and he has
been gone quite a while now.
I do believe that you stimulated a bunch of folks to share their insightful knowledge and this made us all a bit more aware that there are still
answers out there waiting to be found.
1421 most interesting book--I would be surprised if that guy up north ( got a brain lock on the correct name) does not turn out to be from China. The
guy the Army Corps of Engineers tried to hide and the Indians are trying to claim as their own so it can not be studied.
Lee you know his name as we talked about it a ways back.
So nice to have finally met you!
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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Taco de Baja
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Baja Bernie
1421 most interesting book--I would be surprised if that guy up north ( got a brain lock on the correct name) does not turn out to be from China. The
guy the Army Corps of Engineers tried to hide and the Indians are trying to claim as their own so it can not be studied.
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That would be Kennewick Man
The best they can do is "fit" him in with the Ainu, the Native people of Japan....But, his skull and bones are not like ANY living race...The Ainu is
simply the closest fit.
It appears as though there were several migrations involved in the peopling of the Americas, and based on some of the limited finds, they did not like
each other very well. Mr. Kennewick, for example had a healing spear point in his hip. War is nothing new….
There is even a theory that Europeans could have walked here across an ice sheet 14,000 - 15,000 years ago (say between Ireland and Maine), eating
seals and maybe whales, along the way. Any evidence is of course at the bottom of the Atlantic....It’s roughly the same distance and conditions as
walking from Asia to the Americas. They simply got exterminated by other groups soon after they arrived.
Truth generally lies in the coordination of antagonistic opinions
-Herbert Spencer
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bajalera
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And let's not forget Lucia from Lagoa Santa, Brazil--another one to muccy the water a bit.
As for brain size, last time I checked [quite some time ago], Neanderthal had the trophy on size. Does this still hold?
When it comes to keeping track of who's who and who isn't, I like what archaeologist Robert Wenke had to say, that "throughout the ages humans have
expressed a fine democratic spirit in sexual affairs, and wherever different "races" have coexisted, they have interbred."
Yes, I meant "muddy" in that first paragraph, but decided not to correct the typo.
Muccied water sounds about right.
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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Iflyfish
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From my reading the Ainu of Japan have Genes from Korea.????
Very interesting topic, very
Iflyfish
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David K
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Osprey
Lera, keep em coming. Never dull, fascinating subject. I subscribe to the people coast hopping in boats theory in my book about the Baja California
cave painting >> not so far fetched in the scientific community now. See www.ljmu.ac.uk/BIE/83879.htm |
Osprey.... are you Silvia? I am impressed!! How can we obtain a copy of the book(s) with your Baja theory?
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