10.31.08
Wandering Iceman
‘Iceman’ Mummy Has No Modern Kin
THURSDAY, Oct. 30 (HealthDay News) — Sparking a new mystery about early man, Italian scientists have unraveled the DNA of the 5,300-year-old “Iceman” mummy, only to discover that he doesn’t appear to have modern descendants anywhere near where he was found in Europe.
The findings add to evidence that humans were constantly going from place to place, even fairly recently in terms of human development, said Jeffrey T. Laitman, director of anatomy and functional morphology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in New York City. This is in contrast to theories that suggest humans remained in one place for thousands of years.