Great stuff, try to visualize circumstances of BRAZORIA WOMAN’s death at YDB times, but far to the South, near Gulf of Mexico coast line:
“..a prehistoric and nearly complete, fragmented human skeleton of a young, adult female was recovered from the locality known as BZT-1 in Brazoria County, Texas. There was no evidence of a burial shaft or other soil disturbance. There were no grave goods or positive evidence of occupation at BZT-1. This person, designated as the BZT-1 Prehistoric Woman, does not appear to have been intentionally buried. The female skeleton was lying in a face down, extended position with her hands crossed in front, beneath her waist, and with a complete absence of the right tibia, fibula, and foot. The person represented by the human remains at BZT-1 appears to have been killed after her hands were tied in front of her abdomen, and then discarded into the muddy west bank of a now extinct channel of Cocklebur Slough.”
Also stated, “hands crossed beneath the abdomen.” Death at or near YDB times, “..a minimum of 10,740 years ±760 RC years BP” may have occurred during YDB impact event because skeletal remains show no trauma, no animal bite marks, just slight root abrasions, so no aquatic predators present, the latter likely killed from waters poisoned by impact fallout:
“There was no evidence of scavenging by any animals. Root etching was noted to only a few skeletal elements, but resulted in only minor damage to the bone surfaces.. . . Although there was no visible evidence of trauma to the distal right femur, which is in close anatomical proximity to the missing elements (right tibia, fibula, and foot), it should be noted, however, that many of the joint surfaces were not sufficiently preserved to rule out the presence of trauma. There were no observable cut marks or other trauma to the remainder of the skeleton. Dark staining was present on numerous elements and was often associated with areas with attached calcium carbonate concretions.”
So evidently, she was not killed by extinction event, but probably drowned in the creek with her hands tied by fellow humans perhaps under duress, when her tribe suffering and deprived from recent or on-going comet impact event acted to punish and/or sacrifice this individual.
Well, all we really know is that her final resting place was likely near or in a stream, she was face down, and her arms and hands were under her. The idea that the latter were tied is conjecture–I don’t recall them saying anything about finding rope or fabric residue around her wrists. She may have been by herself foraging and collapsed. She might have been a prisoner that became too much trouble to deal with. The osteological analysis suggested that her health was typical for a young woman of her age, so proposing that she was sacrificed because her people were starving is imposing an interpretive framework on the evidence that doesn’t otherwise support that line of thinking. Notably absent was any indication of an anamolous thin carbonaceous layer below her level in the sediment analysis.
Did you notice in the C-14 dating assessment that the researcher believed that nailing down a date could depend on something as minor as whether she lived under a rain forest canopy or out in the open where her diet was mainly marine life? Radiocarbon dating is very iffy, and depends on certain assumptions about whether C-14 was in equilibrium with atmospheric C-12/C-13. The calibration methods they mentioned are based on a consensus of unobservable rates from different sources, such as dendrochronology, varve formation, coral reefs and so-on, which are themselves based on uniformitarian assumptions.
If you start hypothesizing a swarm of meteorite impacts around the end of the Pleistocene and early Holocene, who really knows what the atmospheric chemistry was like back then? Shoot, they can’t get C-14 dates to agree when they have good paleographic information from within the last 5000 years. How can we be so sure of dates from twice that age? Sorry, just my natural skepticism showing itself.
‘@Terry: When you write “all we really know is that [. . .] arms and hands were under herm” you ignore that her arms are crossed at the wrists, see photo of her skeleton in on page 32 of report by d’Aigle, Bradle, Bernhardt posted by George. This is familiar from burials, implying the wrists were tied. — True, authors admit the RC date allows for a wide range of actual dates, but the calibrated age is given as “12,780 calendar years BP”, near YDB times on page 58. No scavenging evidence suggests nexus with extinction. We always must look to the total sci context, a rather large edifice (take it from this Jesus freak applied math guy, Terry). — BTW, my comment was meant to elaborate on George’s speculation, causing me to read the SCRIBD, can claim no credit.
Concerning the environmental conditions at the time, 13kya had a sea level significantly lower than that existing in the present. The shoreline was located 100-200 kilometers further to the south than present day. Environmental conditions that far from the coast are considerably different than that of modern conditions of Brazoria County , Texas. I was also interested when reading the paper that authors regarded the placement of the forearms crossed in front of the body across the pelvis and face down was indicative of the hands being bound in front of the individual at or around the time of death. I am curious as to the reasoning behind this conjecture. Do such excavations of modern burials in which the remains are found in this posture have positive association with deposition with the hands bound in front of the body. Also, no burial and the remains show no scavenging evidence. How does the body become buried in a natural process and escape scavenging.
Hermann,
Points well taken. But since there was no evidence she was buried in a grave, there really would be no difference in her skeletal state whether she was murdered/killed or if she simply died on the spot, other than her wrists were crossed. Even today, rescue workers tie the wrists of corpses together to keep their arms from flailing when they are transporting them. So she may have been a corpse already when she was dumped there. Shoot, her body may have been lost overboard as her people were rafting down the creek or something. I just think there isn’t enough evidence, especially lacking knife cuts or other evidence for violence, to jump right to a sacrifice or purposeful culling when dealing with the after-effects of an extinction event. It’s an interesting conjecture, but that is all it is.
If you are going to tie the wrists of a prisoner, and you want don’t want them to be able to untie themselves, and excape, you tie their wrists behind them, not in front.
I think it’s safe bet that people back then were smart enough to figure that out too.
My Daddy was laid to rest lovingly, and respectfully, under a shower of tears, with his wrists crossed in front like that. Wrists crossed in front are not evidence that she was mistreated all.
Great stuff, try to visualize circumstances of BRAZORIA WOMAN’s death at YDB times, but far to the South, near Gulf of Mexico coast line:
“..a prehistoric and nearly complete, fragmented human skeleton of a young, adult female was recovered from the locality known as BZT-1 in Brazoria County, Texas. There was no evidence of a burial shaft or other soil disturbance. There were no grave goods or positive evidence of occupation at BZT-1. This person, designated as the BZT-1 Prehistoric Woman, does not appear to have been intentionally buried. The female skeleton was lying in a face down, extended position with her hands crossed in front, beneath her waist, and with a complete absence of the right tibia, fibula, and foot. The person represented by the human remains at BZT-1 appears to have been killed after her hands were tied in front of her abdomen, and then discarded into the muddy west bank of a now extinct channel of Cocklebur Slough.”
Also stated, “hands crossed beneath the abdomen.” Death at or near YDB times, “..a minimum of 10,740 years ±760 RC years BP” may have occurred during YDB impact event because skeletal remains show no trauma, no animal bite marks, just slight root abrasions, so no aquatic predators present, the latter likely killed from waters poisoned by impact fallout:
“There was no evidence of scavenging by any animals. Root etching was noted to only a few skeletal elements, but resulted in only minor damage to the bone surfaces.. . . Although there was no visible evidence of trauma to the distal right femur, which is in close anatomical proximity to the missing elements (right tibia, fibula, and foot), it should be noted, however, that many of the joint surfaces were not sufficiently preserved to rule out the presence of trauma. There were no observable cut marks or other trauma to the remainder of the skeleton. Dark staining was present on numerous elements and was often associated with areas with attached calcium carbonate concretions.”
So evidently, she was not killed by extinction event, but probably drowned in the creek with her hands tied by fellow humans perhaps under duress, when her tribe suffering and deprived from recent or on-going comet impact event acted to punish and/or sacrifice this individual.
Bingo. My speculation, exactly.
Well, all we really know is that her final resting place was likely near or in a stream, she was face down, and her arms and hands were under her. The idea that the latter were tied is conjecture–I don’t recall them saying anything about finding rope or fabric residue around her wrists. She may have been by herself foraging and collapsed. She might have been a prisoner that became too much trouble to deal with. The osteological analysis suggested that her health was typical for a young woman of her age, so proposing that she was sacrificed because her people were starving is imposing an interpretive framework on the evidence that doesn’t otherwise support that line of thinking. Notably absent was any indication of an anamolous thin carbonaceous layer below her level in the sediment analysis.
Did you notice in the C-14 dating assessment that the researcher believed that nailing down a date could depend on something as minor as whether she lived under a rain forest canopy or out in the open where her diet was mainly marine life? Radiocarbon dating is very iffy, and depends on certain assumptions about whether C-14 was in equilibrium with atmospheric C-12/C-13. The calibration methods they mentioned are based on a consensus of unobservable rates from different sources, such as dendrochronology, varve formation, coral reefs and so-on, which are themselves based on uniformitarian assumptions.
If you start hypothesizing a swarm of meteorite impacts around the end of the Pleistocene and early Holocene, who really knows what the atmospheric chemistry was like back then? Shoot, they can’t get C-14 dates to agree when they have good paleographic information from within the last 5000 years. How can we be so sure of dates from twice that age? Sorry, just my natural skepticism showing itself.
‘@Terry: When you write “all we really know is that [. . .] arms and hands were under herm” you ignore that her arms are crossed at the wrists, see photo of her skeleton in on page 32 of report by d’Aigle, Bradle, Bernhardt posted by George. This is familiar from burials, implying the wrists were tied. — True, authors admit the RC date allows for a wide range of actual dates, but the calibrated age is given as “12,780 calendar years BP”, near YDB times on page 58. No scavenging evidence suggests nexus with extinction. We always must look to the total sci context, a rather large edifice (take it from this Jesus freak applied math guy, Terry). — BTW, my comment was meant to elaborate on George’s speculation, causing me to read the SCRIBD, can claim no credit.
Concerning the environmental conditions at the time, 13kya had a sea level significantly lower than that existing in the present. The shoreline was located 100-200 kilometers further to the south than present day. Environmental conditions that far from the coast are considerably different than that of modern conditions of Brazoria County , Texas. I was also interested when reading the paper that authors regarded the placement of the forearms crossed in front of the body across the pelvis and face down was indicative of the hands being bound in front of the individual at or around the time of death. I am curious as to the reasoning behind this conjecture. Do such excavations of modern burials in which the remains are found in this posture have positive association with deposition with the hands bound in front of the body. Also, no burial and the remains show no scavenging evidence. How does the body become buried in a natural process and escape scavenging.
Hermann,
Points well taken. But since there was no evidence she was buried in a grave, there really would be no difference in her skeletal state whether she was murdered/killed or if she simply died on the spot, other than her wrists were crossed. Even today, rescue workers tie the wrists of corpses together to keep their arms from flailing when they are transporting them. So she may have been a corpse already when she was dumped there. Shoot, her body may have been lost overboard as her people were rafting down the creek or something. I just think there isn’t enough evidence, especially lacking knife cuts or other evidence for violence, to jump right to a sacrifice or purposeful culling when dealing with the after-effects of an extinction event. It’s an interesting conjecture, but that is all it is.
If you are going to tie the wrists of a prisoner, and you want don’t want them to be able to untie themselves, and excape, you tie their wrists behind them, not in front.
I think it’s safe bet that people back then were smart enough to figure that out too.
My Daddy was laid to rest lovingly, and respectfully, under a shower of tears, with his wrists crossed in front like that. Wrists crossed in front are not evidence that she was mistreated all.