Archaeologists Identify Oldest Known Human Burial in Lower Central America

Some 5,900 years ago, a young woman was buried in a shallow pit in Central America. Laid on her back with legs tucked against her chest and arms prone at the sides of her body, she remained undisturbed for nearly six millennia. All the while, her remains were shielded from the Caribbean’s tropical conditions by an ancient shell mound—essentially a pile of assorted shells designed to mark burial sites or certain spots in the landscape—that had been erected atop her grave.

Ancient human remains are rarely found in lower Central America and similarly tropical regions, as acidic soil tends to damage bone. Luckily... the shell mound placed over the woman’s grave “reduced the acidity of the soil and helped preserve the remains.” ... the authors note that the woman was still in her original burial position when the grave was reopened. Although the skeleton was largely complete, the quality of the bones was compromised by the Caribbean’s poor preservation conditions.

Forensic analysis suggested the ancient subject died when she was between 25 and 40 years old. No cause of death was readily apparent. The woman stood 4-feet 11-inches tall, and had, in the words of Roksandic, “strongly developed musculature of the forearm.” It’s possible this bulk originated from rowing or similar strengthening activities. (study co-author Harly Duncan introduced the other researchers to an 82-year-old woman who had just rowed four hours to visit family across the water. “Kids as young as 9 rowed around Rama islands”—a cluster of land on Nicaragua’s eastern coast—”in a dugout.”)

It remains too early for researchers to offer a definitive analysis of the culture that produced the woman. ... archaeologists will have to determine their next steps soon. A Nicaraguan canal designed to rival the Panama Canal has been in the works for years and is estimated to destroy or alter nearly 1 million acres of rainforest and wetlands.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-identify-oldest-known-human-burial-lower-central-america-180971166/