Archaeologists discover remains of Ice-Age infants in Alaska

The bones and teeth of two--possibly related--Ice-Age infants, who were buried more than 11,000 years ago in central Alaska, constitute the youngest human remains ever found in the North American Arctic.

Artifacts from the burial site, include stone projectile points and antler foreshafts. Credit: Ben Potter, University of Alaska, Fairbanks

Ben A. Potter of the University of Alaska Fairbanks led the archaeological team that made the discovery in late 2013 at an excavation of the Upward Sun River site. The researchers worked closely with local and regional native tribal groups as they excavated the site.

He and his colleagues argue that direct evidence in the form of teeth, bones and artifacts associated with the burial, as well as inferences from the evidence as to what time of year the children died and were buried, could lead to new thinking about how early societies were structured, how they viewed death and the importance of rituals associated with death and what stresses they faced in trying to survive.

Potter made the new find on the site of a 2010 excavation, where the cremated remains of another young Ice-Age child were previously found. The remains of the two infants were found in a pit directly below a hearth where the 2010 remains were uncovered. (NSF)

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