Peñon woman or Peñon Woman III is the name for the human remains, specifically a skull, of a
Paleo-Indian woman found by an ancient lake bed in Pueblo Peñón de los Baños in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
in 1959.
Discovery
Peñon Woman III was found on an island in the middle of
Lake Texcoco
Lake Texcoco ( es, Lago de Texcoco) was a natural lake within the "Anahuac" or Valley of Mexico. Lake Texcoco is best known as where the Aztecs built the city of Tenochtitlan, which was located on an island within the lake. After the Spanish con ...
.
[Grattan and Torrence 91]
The skeleton's age has been estimated by
radiocarbon dating by Silvia Gonzalez of
Liverpool John Moores University.
["The New World may be far older than it originally seemed."]
''The Economist.'' 14 July 2005. Retrieved 15 April 2012. Her
14C date is 10,755±55 years
[ (12,705 cal years) BP.
She is one of the oldest human remains found in the ]Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
.
Gonzalez theorizes that Peñon woman is related to the historic Pericú people of Baja California
Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...
, who also shared similar physical traits.[Rincon, Paul. "Tribe challenges American origins." ''BBC News.'' 7 Sept 2004. Retrieved 15 April 2012.]
See also
*Archaeology of the Americas
The archaeology of the Americas is the study of the archaeology of the Western Hemisphere, including North America (Mesoamerica), Central America, South America and the Caribbean. This includes the study of pre-historic/Pre-Columbian and historic ...
*Arlington Springs Man
The Arlington Springs man is a set of Late Pleistocene human remains discovered in 1959 on Santa Rosa Island, one of the Channel Islands located off the coast of Southern California. The Arlington Springs archeological site is protected within n ...
– (Human remains)
*Buhl woman
Buhla is the name for a skeleton of a prehistoric ( Paleo-Indian) woman found in a quarry near Buhl, Idaho, United States, in January 1989. The skeleton's age has been estimated by radiocarbon dating at 10,675 ± 95 BP, which confirms this as one ...
– (Human remains)
* Calico Early Man Site – (Archeological site)
*Cueva de las Manos
Cueva de las Manos (Spanish for Cave of the Hands or Cave of Hands) is a cave and complex of rock art sites in the province of Santa Cruz, Argentina, south of the town of Perito Moreno. It is named for the hundreds of paintings of hands ste ...
– (Cave paintings)
* Fort Rock Cave – (Archeological site)
*Kennewick Man
Kennewick Man and Ancient One are the names generally given to the skeletal remains of a prehistoric Paleoamerican man found on a bank of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington, on July 28, 1996. It is one of the most complete ancient ...
– (Human remains)
*List of unsolved deaths
This list of unsolved deaths includes well-known cases where:
* The cause of death could not be officially determined.
* The person's identity could not be established after they were found dead.
* The cause is known, but the manner of death (homi ...
* Luzia Woman – (Human remains)
* Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi – (Human remains)
*Marmes Rockshelter
The Marmes Rockshelter (also known as (45-FR-50)) is an archaeological site first excavated in 1962, near Lyons Ferry Park and the confluence of the Snake and Palouse Rivers, in Franklin County, southeastern Washington. This rockshelter is remar ...
– (Archeological site)
*Paisley Caves
The Paisley Caves or the Paisley Five Mile Point Caves complex is a system of eight caves in an arid, desolate region of south-central Oregon, United States north of the present-day city of Paisley, Oregon. The caves are located in the Summer La ...
– (Archeological site)
* Leanderthal Lady – (Human remains)
*Forensic anthropology
Forensic anthropology is the application of the anatomical science of anthropology and its various subfields, including forensic archaeology and forensic taphonomy, in a legal setting. A forensic anthropologist can assist in the identification ...
Notes
References
* Grattan, John and Robin Torrence, eds
''Living Under the Shadow: Cultural Impacts of Volcanic Eruptions.''
Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press, 2007. .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penon Woman
1959 archaeological discoveries
Archaeological sites in the State of Mexico
Human remains (archaeological)
Indigenous Mexicans
Oldest human remains in the Americas
Paleo-Indian archaeological sites in Mexico
Paleo-Indian period
Indigenous peoples in Mexico City