Social:Luzia Woman

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Luzia Woman (Portuguese pronunciation: [luˈzi.ɐ]) is the name for an Upper Paleolithic period skeleton of a Paleo-Indian woman who was found in a cave in Brazil. Some archaeologists believed the young woman may have been part of the first wave of immigrants to South America. The 11,500-year-old skeleton was found in a grotto in Lapa Vermelha, Pedro Leopoldo, Great Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in 1974 by archaeologist Annette Laming-Emperaire.[1][2] The nickname "Luzia" pays homage to the Australopithecus fossil "Lucy".[3] The fossil was kept at the National Museum of Brazil, where it was shown to the public until it was fragmented during a fire that destroyed the museum on September 2, 2018.[4][5] On October 19, 2018, it was announced that most of Luzia's remains were identified from the Museu Nacional debris, which allowed them to rebuild part of her skeleton.[6][7][8]

History

Photogrammetry of all skull sides by Cicero Moraes

Luzia was originally discovered in 1974 in a rock shelter by a joint French-Brazilian expedition that was working not far from Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The remains were not articulated. The skull, which was separated from the rest of the skeleton but was in surprisingly good condition, was buried under more than forty feet (12 meters) of mineral deposits and debris.

There were no other human remains at the site. New dating of the bones announced in 2013 confirmed that at an age of 10,030 ± 60 14C yr BP (11,243–11,710 cal BP), Luzia is one of the most ancient American human skeletons ever discovered.[9] Forensics have determined that Luzia died in her early 20s. Although flint tools were found nearby, hers were the only human remains found in Vermelha Cave.

The fossil of Luzia was believed to have been destroyed when the National Museum burned, according to officials,[10][11][12] but firefighters later discovered a human skull within the burned museum.[4] On October 19, 2018 it was announced that the Luzia skull was indeed found, but in a fragmented state. 80% of the fragments were identified as being part of the frontal (forehead and nose), side, bones that are more resistant and the fragment of her femur that also belonged to the fossil and was stored. A part of the box that contained Luzia's skull was also recovered. The reassembly of the bones has not yet been undertaken.[13]

Phenotypical analysis

A cast of Luzia's skull at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC
Facial reconstruction at the National Museum of Brazil (2015 photograph)

Her facial features included a narrow, oval cranium, projecting face and pronounced chin, strikingly dissimilar to most Native Americans and their indigenous Siberian forebears. Anthropologists variously described Luzia's features as resembling those of Negroids, Indigenous Australians, Melanesians and the Negritos of Southeast Asia. Walter Neves, an anthropologist at the University of São Paulo, suggested that Luzia's features most strongly resembled those of Australian Aboriginal peoples. Richard Neave of Manchester University, who undertook a forensic facial reconstruction of Luzia, described it as negroid.[14]

Neves and other Brazilian anthropologists theorized that Luzia's Paleo-Indian predecessors lived in South East Asia for tens of thousands of years after migrating from Africa and began arriving in the New World as early as 15,000 years ago. The oldest confirmed date for an archaeosite in the Americas is 18,500 and 14,500 cal BP for the Monte Verde site in southern Chile.[15] Some anthropologists have hypothesized that a population from coastal East Asia migrated in boats along the Kuril island chain, the Beringian coast and down the west coast of the Americas during the decline of the Last Glacial Maximum.[16][17] In 1998, Neves and archaeologist André Prous studied and dated 11,400 years for the skull of Luzia after naming her.[18]

Neves' conclusions have been challenged by research done by anthropologists Rolando González-José, Frank Williams and William Armelagos, who have shown in their studies that the cranio-facial variability could just be due to genetic drift and other factors affecting cranio-facial plasticity in Native Americans.[19][20][21]

A comparison in 2005 of Lagoa Santa specimens with modern Aimoré people of the same region also showed strong affinities, leading Neves to classify the Aimoré as Paleo-Indians.[22]

Researchers recreated the skull of Luzia with 3D printers by studies resumed in a laboratory of the National Institute of Technology (INT) by master's and doctoral students of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.[23]

In November 2018, scientists of the University of São Paulo and Harvard University released a study that contradicts the alleged Australo-Melanesian physical appearance of Luzia. Using DNA sequencing, the results showed that Luzia had Mongoloid features.[24] The bust of Luzia displaying African features was done in the 1990's. "However, skull shape isn't a reliable marker of ancestrality or geographic origin. Genetics is the best basis for this type of inference," Strauss explained. "The genetic results of the new study show categorically that there was no significant connection between the Lagoa Santa people and groups from Africa or Australia. So the hypothesis that Luzia's people derived from a migratory wave prior to the ancestors of today's Amerindians has been disproved. On the contrary, the DNA shows that Luzia's people were entirely Amerindian."[25]

Anthropometry

Luzia stood just under five feet (1.5 m) tall; about one-third of her skeleton has been recovered. Her remains seem to indicate that she died when she was approximately 20 years old, either in an accident or as the result of an animal attack. She was a member of a group of hunter-gatherers.[26]

See also

  • Collection of fossils in the National Museum of Brazil
  • Genetic history of indigenous peoples of the Americas
  • Settlement of the Americas
Human remains
  • Arlington Springs Man
  • Peñon woman
  • Buhl Woman
  • Kennewick Man
  • Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi
Archeological sites
  • Mummy Cave
  • Paisley Caves
  • Xá:ytem
  • Calico Early Man Site
  • Cueva de las Manos—Cave paintings
  • Fort Rock Cave
  • Marmes Rockshelter

References

  1. Smith, C. (18 February 2000). "Luzia Woman". Cabrillo College. Discovery Communications Inc.. http://www.cabrillo.edu/~crsmith/luzia.html. 
  2. "Busca pelo crânio de Luzia continua um mês após incêndio no Museu Nacional" (in pt). em.com.br. https://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/gerais/2018/10/03/interna_gerais,993745/busca-pelo-cranio-de-luzia-continua-um-mes-apos-incendio-no-rio.shtml. 
  3. "O crânio de Luzia, a mais antiga habitante das Américas, pode ter desaparecido no incêndio do Museu Nacional" (in pt). O Globo. https://epoca.globo.com/o-cranio-de-luzia-mais-antiga-habitante-das-americas-pode-ter-desaparecido-no-incendio-do-museu-nacional-23045647. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Stargardter, Gabriel (September 4, 2018). "Skull of ancient human possibly found in burned Brazilian museum". Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-fire-museum/skull-of-ancient-human-possibly-found-in-burned-brazilian-museum-idUSKCN1LK258. Retrieved 7 September 2018. 
  5. Solá-Santiago, Frances (September 24, 2018). "The Story of Luzia, the Oldest Human Skull Found in the Americas". Remezcla. http://remezcla.com/features/culture/the-story-of-luzia-the-oldest-human-skull-found-in-americas/. Retrieved 25 September 2018. 
  6. "Brazil museum fire: Prized 'Luzia' fossil skull recovered" (in en). BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45926733. 
  7. Salviano, Murilo (October 19, 2018). "Crânio de Luzia é encontrado nos escombros do Museu Nacional, dizem pesquisadores" (in pt). G1. https://g1.globo.com/rj/rio-de-janeiro/noticia/2018/10/19/fossil-de-luzia-pode-ter-sido-encontrado-em-escombros-do-museu-nacional-dizem-pesquisadores.ghtml. Retrieved October 19, 2018. 
  8. "Museu Nacional resgata crânio de Luzia quebrado e identifica 80% das partes" (in pt). UOL. October 19, 2018. https://noticias.uol.com.br/ciencia/ultimas-noticias/redacao/2018/10/19/equipe-resgata-cranio-da-luzia-no-museu-nacional.htm. Retrieved October 19, 2018. 
  9. Fontugne, MIchel (2013). "New Radiocarbon Ages of Luzia Woman, Lapa Vermelha IV Site, Lagoa Santa, Minas Gerais, Brazil". Proceedings of the 21st International Radiocarbon Conference 55 (2–3). doi:10.2458/azu_js_rc.55.16253. https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/radiocarbon/article/view/16253/pdf. Retrieved 27 December 2013. 
  10. "Brazil's First Human "Luzia" Destroyed In Rio De Janeiro's Museum Fire". NDTV.com. https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/brazils-first-human-luzia-destroyed-in-rio-de-janeiros-museum-fire-1910767. 
  11. "Especialista compara perda do fóssil Luzia com destruição da Mona Lisa". R7. https://noticias.r7.com/rio-de-janeiro/especialista-compara-perda-do-fossil-luzia-com-destruicao-da-mona-lisa-03092018. 
  12. "Brazil Museum Fire Leaves Ashes, Recrimination and Little Else". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/03/world/americas/brazil-museum-fire.html. 
  13. "Crânio de Luzia é encontrado nos escombros do Museu Nacional, dizem pesquisadores" (in pt). G1. https://g1.globo.com/rj/rio-de-janeiro/noticia/2018/10/19/fossil-de-luzia-pode-ter-sido-encontrado-em-escombros-do-museu-nacional-dizem-pesquisadores.ghtml. 
  14. Larry Rohter (26 Oct 1999). "An Ancient Skull Challenges Long-Held Theories". New York Times. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A01EFDC1438F935A15753C1A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2. Retrieved 2008-02-15. 
  15. Dillehay, Tom D.; Ocampo, Carlos (November 18, 2015). "New Archaeological Evidence for an Early Human Presence at Monte Verde, Chile". PLoS ONE 10 (11): e0141923. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0141923. 
  16. Erlandson, Jon M. & Braje, Todd J., From Asia to the Americas by boat? Paleogeography, paleoecology, and stemmed points of the northwest Pacific, http://natural-history.uoregon.edu/sites/default/files/mnch/Erlandson_and_Braje_2011.pdf 
  17. Adachi N.; Shinoda K.; Umetsu K.; Matsumura H. (2009), "Mitochondrial DNA analysis of Jomon skeletons from the Funadomari site, Hokkaido, and its implication for the origins of Native American, Am J Phys Anthropol. 2010 Mar;141(3):504-5", American Journal of Physical Anthropology 138 (3): 255–65, doi:10.1002/ajpa.20923, PMID 18951391 
  18. "Walter Neves: Luzia’s father" (in en). Globo. http://revistapesquisa.fapesp.br/en/2012/05/11/walter-neves-luzias-father/. 
  19. "Kennewick and Luzia: lessons from the European Upper Paleolithic". American Journal of Physical Anthropology 121 (2): 181–4; discussion 185–8. June 2003. doi:10.1002/ajpa.10176. PMID 12740961. 
  20. Fiedel, Stuart J. (2004). "The Kennewick Follies: 'New' Theories about the Peopling of the Americas". Journal of Anthropological Research 60 (1): 75–110. 
  21. "The peopling of America: craniofacial shape variation on a continental scale and its interpretation from an interdisciplinary view". American Journal of Physical Anthropology 137 (2): 175–87. October 2008. doi:10.1002/ajpa.20854. PMID 18481303. 
  22. Lopes, Reinaldo José (10 Oct 2005). "Os sobreviventes: Crânios de índios extintos do Brasil Central indicam elo com primeiros povoadores da América" (in Portuguese). Jornal da Ciência. http://www.jornaldaciencia.org.br/Detalhe.jsp?id=32121. Retrieved 2008-02-15. 
  23. "Pesquisadores recriam parte do acervo do Museu Nacional, incluindo o crânio de Luzia, com impressoras 3D" (in pt). Globo. https://g1.globo.com/rj/rio-de-janeiro/noticia/2018/09/21/pesquisadores-recriam-parte-do-acervo-do-museu-nacional-incluindo-o-cranio-de-luzia-com-impressoras-3d.ghtml. 
  24. César Menezes (8 Nov 2018). "(in Portuguese) Estudo contradiz teoria de povoamento da América e sugere que rosto de Luzia era diferente do que se pensava (Research contradicts the theory of the occupation of the Americas and suggests that the Luzia's face was different from what was previously thought)". G1. https://g1.globo.com/ciencia-e-saude/noticia/2018/11/08/estudo-contradiz-teoria-de-povoamento-da-america-e-sugere-que-rosto-de-luzia-era-diferente-do-que-se-pensava.ghtml. Retrieved 2018-11-09. 
  25. ScienceDaily. "The new face of South American people". https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181109155524.htm. Retrieved November 9, 2018. 
  26. Neves, W. A.; Hubbe, M. (December 20, 2005). "Cranial morphology of early Americans from Lagoa Santa, Brazil: Implications for the settlement of the New World" (in en). NCBI 102 (51): pp. 18309–18314. doi:10.1073/pnas.0507185102. PMID 16344464. 

External links

Template:National Museum of Brazil