Fossils Shed Light On Humans In N. America

DNA In Oregon Cave Shows People Arrived 1,000 Years Earlier Than Previously Known

(AP)  New evidence shows humans lived in North America more than 14,000 years ago, 1,000 years earlier than had previously been known.

Discovered in a cave in Oregon, fossil feces yielded DNA indicating these early residents were related to people living in Siberia and East Asia, according to a report in Thursday's online edition of the journal Science.

"This is the first time we have been able to get dates that are undeniably human, and they are 1,000 years before Clovis," said Dennis L. Jenkins, a University of Oregon archaeologist, referring to the Clovis culture, well known for its unique spear-points that have been studied previously.

Humans are widely believed to have arrived in North America from Asia over a land-bridge between Alaska and Siberia during a warmer period. A variety of dates has been proposed and some are in dispute.

Few artifacts were found in the cave, leading Jenkins to speculate that these people stayed there only a few days at a time before moving on, perhaps following game animals or looking for other food.

The petrified poop - coprolites to scientists - is yielding a look at the diet of these ancient Americans, Jenkins said.

While the analysis is not yet complete, he said there are bones of squirrels, bison hair, fish scales, protein from birds and dogs and the remains of plants such as grass and sunflowers.

The oldest of several coprolites studied is 14,340 calendar years old, said co-author Eske Willerslev, director of the Centre for Ancient Genetics at Denmark's University of Copenhagen.

"The Paisley Cave material represents, to the best of my knowledge, the oldest human DNA obtained from the Americas," he said. "Other pre-Clovis sites have been claimed, but no human DNA has been obtained."

The date for the new coprolites is similar to that of Monte Verde in southern Chile, where human artifacts have been discovered, added Willerslev.

Jenkins said it isn't clear exactly who these people living in the Oregon caves were, since there were few artifacts found. He said there was one stone tool, a hand tool used perhaps to polish or grind or mash bones or fat.

"We are not saying that these people were of a particular ethnic group. At this point, we know they most likely came from Siberia or Eastern Asia, and we know something about what they were eating, which is something we can learn from coprolites. We're talking about human signature," he said.

"If you are looking for the first people in North America, you are going to have to step back more than 1,000 years beyond Clovis to find them," Jenkins said.

The Clovis culture has been dated to between 13,200 and 12,900 calendar years ago and is best known by the tools left behind.

Michael Waters, director of the Center for the Study of the First Americans at Texas A&M University, said the find, along with indications of human presence at other locations, adds to the evidence for a pre-Clovis human presence in North America.

"The genetic evidence from the coprolites from Paisley Caves is also consistent with the current genetic data for the peopling of the Americas - that the earliest inhabitants of the Americas came from Northeast Asia," added Waters, who was not part of the research team.

Anthropologist Ripan Malhi of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, said this data along with material from Alaska provide increasing "evidence that ancestors of Native Americans used a coastal route during the colonization of the Americas." Malhi was not part of the research team.

Jenkins said that discoveries like those in the Oregon caves "help us to reconstruct the American past."

"Our heritage is really important and it is important to the majority of the American public. If you don't know where you come from, it's hard to have a feeling of community, of participation."

To make sure the Oregon cave material hadn't been contaminated with modern DNA, the researchers tested more than 50 people who worked at the site. The DNA testing indicated that the feces belonged to Native Americans in two groups that can be traced to Siberia and East Asia.

In their paper the researchers dated the coprolites at 12,300 "carbon years" before the present. Prior to 3,000 years ago, carbon years differed from calendar years, resulting in the date of approximately 14,300 calendar years for the coprolites.

The research was funded by the Museum of Natural and Cultural History, University of Oregon; Association of Oregon Archaeologists and the Marie Curie Actions program.

[nothappyatall]

Here it is from an insider:

Vance Farrell is persona non grata in the mainstream part of the church. People who are either impossibly naive or who have a paranoia about the church apostasizing tend to read his stuff and believe it. But he takes bits and pieces of stories about various things in the church and twists them into blatant untruth, reprinting them to be extremely hurtful. Please do not take him as an example of what 7th-day Adventists are.
==

We dont need singinrick... we have another bible banger right here... whee!!
Posted by IRLiberal"

Or... maybe they are one and the same with 2 accounts, ever notice when ricky is gone this jerkaboner posts th same tired krap over and over, and then when stinkingprick returns with a new account again, jerkaboner goes away for a while.

A few times he answered his own posts and patted himself on the back using the 2 accounts LOL.
I''d bet he is some buybull college fruitcake who is here for his class assignment.

[nothappyatall]

It turns out that Mr. Ferrell, besides having written (I should say compiled) The Cruncher, has also written an anti-vaccination book (full text here) and several end-times works (the typical Adventist type where the government enacts a law forcing everyone to go to church on Sunday... not only do they see Satan as the enemy, but pretty much every faith other than their own). The guy really is starting to look like an Adventist Hovind... I wonder if he skips out on taxes too? Not that the Adventists needed another one; they already have Carl Baugh. Is there really room in the boat for two?

Beyond these, the ambitious Mr. Ferrell appears to have written or edited numerous books on subjects ranging from prophecy to natural medicine (if the last is as bad as his grasp of science would indicate, I fear for Adventist children everywhere).

Unfortunately, as I write, the academic credentials of Mr. Ferrell seem to be rather impossible to find. Pathlights claims that he holds both a BA and MA but don''t list the discipline. I''m personally betting on something theology-related.

[nothappyatall]

A REVISED, ENLARGED, LARGE-PRINT...
Vance Ferrell

Posted by jerkaboner

Yeah right, he''s a 7th day adventist and obvious buybull thumper, no bias there RIGHT?

First of all, it turns out that Mr. Ferrell is a Seventh-Day Adventist (and a very dedicated one at that)
The church he belongs to also strongly discourages- actually forbids in some circles- the consumption of spices with food. The church''s founder and seer, Ms. Ellen G. White, spoke against spices in foods saying that "they excited the passions"
As many know, the Adventist''s official postition on the creation/evolution debate is that the Bible must be interpreted literally. In fact, this position was reaffirmed during last year''s general conference. With this in mind, it''s easy to see why Vance was motivated to write The Cruncher in the first place. One may also deduce from this that he never actually looked at the scientific evidence at all, but simply dug up as much as he could to support the position of his chosen faith. Actually, given the volume of internal contradictions in the book, it is likely that he didn''t look at his creation "evidences" either.

The most complete set of Neanderthal remains did in fact come from an individual who suffered from arthritis. But there is no question he was a Neanderthal. why would someone even mention this? My cat had arthritis - it''s fairly common in many mammalian species.

[rational_1]

Science vs. Evolution

A REVISED, ENLARGED, LARGE-PRINT CLASSROOM EDITION OF
THE EVOLUTION HANDBOOK (FORMERLY THE EVOLUTION CRUNCHER)
Vance Ferrell
Posted by jankebenz

I looked this guy up, and found no evidence that he is a scientist. However, he IS a hardcore 7-Day Adventist. Imagine that.
Posted by jimfinster at 12:50 PM : Apr 05, 2008

Ya, imagine that! I''m shocked. Did he get his Ph.D. at the Joe Bob Bible College and Snake Oil Emporium? Says the book is in large print - probably also consists of monosyllabic words to make it easier to read.

[rational_1]

Dr. A. J. E. Cave Said his examination showed that the famous Neanderthal skeleton found in France over 50 years ago is that of an old man who suffered from arthritis.
Posted by jankebenz at 03:33 AM : Apr 05, 2008

This is a laughable argument. One guy (who I''ve never heard of) says one thing and all the paleontologists say the opposite, and you believe him. That''s what I find so frustrating in discussing evolution/creationism with you guys; you latch on one tiny point or opinion and champion it blindly just because it happens to agree with your preconceived answers of how things should be and you completely disregard the fact that your champion expounds a view shared by almost no one else. By the way, I wonder how your Dr. Cave would explain the significant DNA differences between ourselves and the Neanderthals. An arthritic old guy just chock full of mutations?

*s*e*x*y is prohibited?

MagicMerlin8: This type of evidence isn''t "***" to the general public - but it gives scientists an incredible amount of information. there is only so much that can be learned from stone tools and points.

[actornaught]

Sorry, there''s nothing Christian about obsessively pushing weird interpretations of the Old Testament, harassing people on science articles with off-topic expressions of their ultimate lack of faith. Faith is faith, it''s not wheeling around looking for offensive ways of justifying a pointless "system".

[jimfinster]

Well well, well, a book by scientists that debunks the fantasy of evolution! dare you read it? check out the site on the web

Science vs. Evolution

A REVISED, ENLARGED, LARGE-PRINT CLASSROOM EDITION OF
THE EVOLUTION HANDBOOK (FORMERLY THE EVOLUTION CRUNCHER)
Vance Ferrell

Posted by jankebenz


I looked this guy up, and found no evidence that he is a scientist. However, he IS a hardcore 7-Day Adventist. Imagine that.