Posted on 10/17/2007 2:24:12 PM PDT by blam
Native American Skull Found at Malibu Construction Site
• State Native American Heritage Commission Initiates Process for Handling Find •
BY ANNE SOBLE
A human skull unearthed at a construction site in the Paradise Cove mobile home park has been officially declared a prehistoric Native American find, and the wheels have been put in motion for the remains to be handled in accord with state law. Workers preparing the foundation for a new mobile home in the beachside complex discovered the skull during routine digging Monday at about 4 p.m. and contacted the sheriff’s department. Capt. Ed Winter of the Operations Investigations Bureau of the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office said a “skeletal team,” including a forensics anthropologist, arrived at the scene a few hours later to study the artifact. Winter said the discovery was not surprising because there have been a number of finds of prehistoric Native American artifacts in the Paradise Cove area. The team’s consulting forensic anthropologist, Elizabeth Miller, a faculty member at Cal State L.A., said when she made the determination that the skull was a prehistoric artifact, that action took the matter out of the Coroner’s Office’s hands. Miller said her analysis was based on the age of the remains, first determined visually by “its brittleness, the morphology of the face’s ethnic characteristics and the wear on the teeth.”
The anthropologist said the teeth of most California Native Americans in pre-recorded history “are worn down to little nubs” because of the “large amount of grit in their diet.”
Miller’s determination of artifact status resulted in the skull being referred to the California Native American Heritage Commission in Sacramento, which did its own analysis of authenticity and, also having determined the skull to be Native American remains, has taken over its official disposition. Larry Myers, the executive secretary of the Native American Heritage Commission, said that a member of the Chumash people, having been declared “a most likely descendent,” has been selected to work with the property owner where the skull was found. Myers said the commission has a policy of not making the name of the descendents public. He said it was likely that individual has already made contact with the property owner and the developer of the parcel, but additional information was not available as The News went to press. There may be some additional legal issues in this case concerning how final arrangements for the skull will be worked out, as the land in the park is owned by the Kissel Company and leased to mobile home owners. According to Miller, there are a number of options for ways to honor human remains of Native American ancestors. The skull is presently protected in the location where it was found until disposition has been resolved. The skull could be buried in the spot it was found, placed somewhere else on the site and covered by construction, or it could be moved to a different location for a ceremonial ritual. Miller said there probably will be a request to do further excavation at the site, but she added, “Most property owners do not allow this.”
Requests for additional study at locations of other archaeological finds in Malibu have been rebuffed by owners who are under no legal obligation to allow additional study on their land. There were reports that the people constructing the foundation for a mobile home at the find site have spent a lengthy period of time on the process and were cautiously appraising this latest development. Miller said it is against federal law to own Native American remains or artifacts, but finds can legally be covered up, and the insights they might offer into California’s prehistory could be lost. She urged people to be careful where they dig and turn all finds over to the sheriff’s department. “Each find holds the potential to answer questions about the past.”
GGG Ping.
Mobile home in Malibu? What’s next, Porky’s in Beverly Hills? Butch’s Tatoo & Piercing Den on Park Avenue? Go-Go Rama of Beacon Hill?
They go for over a million dollars. Sad thing is you can see them from the restaurant there-—spoils the view (the food there is no good either though).
Your statement is not only false but pure Bull Shiite. Where do you people come up with this endless nonsense? Look at what you wrote, think about it, do a little research, and see where and how many times what you said has actually happened. I would bet, none, never. Total Bias response.
...But it is a double-wide.
Basically, the story is that the park has been there forever, and everyone has fixed up their trailers to the point where they're hardly recognizable as such anymore. But even at those prices, they are far and away the cheapest way to live next to the beach in the area.
kennewick man II.
Probably not.
"Miller said her analysis was based on the age of the remains, first determined visually by “its brittleness, the morphology of the face’s ethnic characteristics and the wear on the teeth.”
This is what happens when smoking is banned in California - no one needs another ash tray.
Definitions of hyperbole on the Web:
A figure of speech in which deliberate exaggeration is used for emphasis. Many everyday expressions are examples of hyperbole: tons of money ...
www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0903237.html
a deliberate exaggeration or overstatement.
www.saratogaschools.org/academic/terry/libraryresearchsite/WordDocs/Literary%20Terms%20and%20Techniques.doc
Exaggeration used for emphasis. Hyperbole can be used to heighten effect, to catalyze recognition, or to create a humorous perception. Example:
home.cfl.rr.com/eghsap/apterms.html
figure of speech in which the truth is exaggerated for emphasis or humor [Grade 9]
instech.tusd.k12.az.us/Core/glossary/writeglossary.doc
A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect.
www.necompact.org/ea/materials/GLE/GLEsFeb05/NECA%20ReadingGlossary.doc
a deliberate, extravagant, and often outrageous exaggeration: “The shot heard ‘round the world.” It may be used for either serious or comic effect.
henry.mpls.k12.mn.us/1Sep20053.html
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Thanks Blam. |
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How do they know the skull is isn't from the Clovis people, or other pre-"indian" peoples. The Native Americans who were here when Columbus, Cortez, and the Dutch and English colonists arrived were not the "First Americans". Those earlier folks were here duing the time of the Whooly Mamouths, Saber Tooth Tigers, and Dire Wolves. Must have been right sporting getting enough to eat, and not being eaten in turn.
You are right, and I feel terrible. If an Indian tribe had a casino project from which they would make untold millions, they would gladly delay or even cancel the project should they come across an Indian gravesite.
I'll ask a friend of mine, who works in the legal department of an Indian casino what they would do and get back to you. No doubt he will be shocked, shocked that I would think even for one moment that the financial interests of the Tribe would take precedence over their boundless reverence for sacred remains.
evidence Streisand is a murdereress
I know of one such case, in the state of Washington.
It took an archaeologist to stop the damage and get some protection for the site. (It was a tribal lodge though, not a casino.)
They probably got most of the information from the age and diagnostic artifacts of the site. The age of a skull by itself is very difficult to estimate without radiocarbon dating unless the morphology is distinctly different (such as Kennewick Man).
Those earlier folks were here duing the time of the Whooly Mamouths, Saber Tooth Tigers, and Dire Wolves. Must have been right sporting getting enough to eat, and not being eaten in turn.
Actually, recent studies have suggested a more mixed, to even vegetal diet than had been thought. The megafauna was probably only an occasional treat.
And incidentally, this is the first time I have heard of a Native American skull referred to as a "prehistoric artifact" -- and I have been doing this for a lot of years, including a couple of decades examining bone finds for the local coroners.
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