Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Skeleton could be huntress' Date: Tue, 27 Oct 92 13:27:07 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION \SS (WS) \HD Skeleton could be huntress' \SH Texas bone find may set record \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT CINCINNATI CINCINNATI (AP) - A woman whose remains are believed to be at least 11,600 years old - the oldest ever found in the Americas - likely lived in a culture of hunters who processed meat, says a geologist who examined the bones. No artifacts were found with the remains to indicate how the "Midland woman" and her society lived in what is now Texas, Curtis R. McKinney, director of geologic research at the Center for American Archaeology in Kampsville, Ill., said yesterday. But his age estimate would place the woman in the time frame of the Clovis culture, which was known to have used spears to hunt game that included mammoths and mastodons, Mr. McKinney told the Geological Society of America's annual meeting. The Clovis culture is known for finely worked spearheads that had a characteristic long, fluted shape with a groove in the middle. Evidence indicates the Clovis culture spread within 1,000 years over much of North America. Archaeologists have found evidence that those people built campfires and apparently cured meat in pits, Mr. McKinney said. They also had small settlements. Scientists believe several other North American archaeological sites may be up to 30,000 years old, but none yielded skeletal remains. The oldest modern human skeletons are estimated to be 35,000 years old and have been discovered in Western Europe and the Middle East. An amateur archaeologist discovered the remains of the "Midland woman" in sand dunes near Midland, Texas, in 1953. Mr. McKinney calculated the age of the woman using a technique called alpha spectrometry. Michael B. Collins, a research fellow at the Texas Archaeological Research Laboratory at the University of Texas, said Mr. McKinney's age estimate was reasonable but said more research is needed to confirm it. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM