ALT.SF4M

  Ancient American Archaeology - R.I.P.

   • j********o@***.com
     26/10/1996 00:00:000 UTC

     There was an article in the Science Times recently summarizing the near

     destruction of paleo-Indian Archaeology in the US due to the latest

     PC-minded legislation. The new laws mandate the immediate return of all

     human remains to any tribe that asserts the remains to be of their

     ancestors. The laws make it illegal (unlawful, if you prefer) to examine

     the remains or perform tests upon them without the permission of the

     tribes, which is not forthcoming: in fact, the tribes have simply being

     reburying the remains, thus dooming them to rapid deterioration without

     there ever being a chance for detailed study. The Times typically spins

     the article against Indian "Creationists," who would presumably reject
     any

     scientific analysis of their origins: this implies a false distinction

     and misleading categorization, as pretty much everyone who matters in

     these tribes shares these beliefs! While the laws have returned some

     relatively recent remains of clear tribal provenence (several hundreds
     of

     years, say), it has unfortunately prevented the proper study, and

     threatens destruction, of several unique, very old (9-10 KYBP) and

     important finds, for which the alleged tribal affiliation is impossible,

     meaningless, and untestable (especially so given the refusal of the
     tribes

     upon whose land the remains were unearthed to allow DNA testing!) These

     extremely old remains are indispensable to our understanding of the

     settling of the Americas, and offer the possibility of overthrowing our

     current theories: one such skeleton appears to be of an ethnic European

     man, present in Alaska nine thousand years ago!

     I believe this current situation offers scientific proof of the old
     adage:

     the only good Indian is a dead Indian!

     Gorno

     (Decided to throw this in while I'm upsetting Pope (Dave Hodges)'s

     sensibilities! It was a long way to get to the diner, I suppose, but
     it's

     true.)

       • g*****o@k****.****t.net
         28/10/1996 00:00:000 UTC

         : I believe this current situation offers scientific proof of the
         old adage:

         : the only good Indian is a dead Indian!

         Hey, didn't we conquer these people? It's not really their land
         anymore.

         It's not like they are looting for treasure. Just collecting
         scientific

         data of the Americas.

       • y******d@p******y.com
         30/10/1996 00:00:000 UTC

         I'm not even going to touch this one with a 10 foot pole.

         Jill

         Resident ex-Professional Archaeologist who

         HAS excavated the remains of Native Americans....

         as well as Europeans.

         -Archaeology: More than just a hole in the ground.

         J*******o@p******y.com

         Jill Rappaport