May 1, 2020

153: Bones have voices

What will be the most significant find at our new dig, or in the other two if we do ever get in? Artefacts? Something most unexpected or unusual?

No. The skeletons will be the most significant find. Not just because of their height (8’+) but what those skeletons will tell us when analysed properly. Analysis that should have been done the first time, but wasn’t because Maori wanted the first cave sealed and all reference to it removed. That alone would have many people asking why and trying to find it. At least the tube yielded some conclusive proof that a tall human once existed here between 7'10" - 8'2" (depending on gender).

Some would ask why they should be found and revealed at all. If the above sentence hasn’t got through, you don't care about mystery and cover-ups, and you are focusing on the reverence of the dead then fair enough. But the real answer is they need to be found to reveal that which we do not know, to reveal a past this country once had, that has been hidden; first by time, and then by man. This is history; actually pre-history as it’s from a time when humans were not supposed to be here according to the text books and academics.

To find them can reveal what time they lived in and what did they see. What was the land like, their lives, diet, deaths and even their religion like. Examination of skeletons can reveal a lot about those things. Did they witness Taupo eruption of 233BC?

Essentially these people are the 'lost voices' of whatever name they called this land (and it wasn’t Aotearoa)

Apart from the first one below, the science forensic osteology will tell us much about these skeletons…

First of all, and the reason we did this – their extraordinary height. Why are they so tall?
If they are Male or Female. Does any excessive dimorphism exist or are the differences normal ?
Their age at death.
General life expectancy over a whole group.
General and individual health. Via teeth wear, bone analysis.
The type of work they undertook, was it heavy manual, farming or hunter/gatherer. Bony ridges appear where muscle connections are attached and used the most.
What injuries or trauma did any of them suffer.
What was their status as individuals (by what was buried with them).
Were their any common religious items with them?
Bones can reveal specific health issues, signs of disease and even if it’s hereditary.
Carbon Dating will reveal the time frame in which individuals and the whole group buried lived.
DNA analysis will tell us if they are all related within a generation or two, descendant of those buried long before or maybe even the elite within the old tribe.
Enamel isotope analysis will provide an ecological fingerprint of where they lived and what they ate.
Bone collagen also reveals what you ate and your lifestyle thereof.
Facial reconstruction can reveal what they might have looked like. (This technique is not even 20% accurate but it may be interesting).
Race. The origins of these people will be able to be determined. Are they Austroasiatic or Austronesian or something quite unexpected considering their size?

It is now known that Pacific islanders carry the DNA of an unknown human species: Genetic study reveals ancient Melanesians interbred with a mysterious hominid. The island peoples of Melanesia have a distinct genetic ancestry and analysis shows their ancestors bred with Neanderthals and Denisovans...

Unbeknownst to most, there is genetic evidence of a third unknown pre-historic group of human species. However, even science is falling into traps. Geneticists have begun using old bones to make sweeping claims about the distant past. But their revisions to the human story are making some scholars of prehistory uneasy. Is ancient DNA research revealing new truths — or simply falling into old traps?