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Scientists tantalize with 'iceman' findings

Sunday, April 06 2008 @ 10:56 AM CDT

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Darah Hansen

Scientists from around the world who have been studying the centuries-old human remains that melted out of a glacier in northwestern British Columbia in 1999 will gather for the first time in Victoria later this month to talk about what they've learned from the unnamed "iceman."

The Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi Symposium will be held April 24-27 at the University of Victoria.

It is being held in conjunction with the Northwest Anthropology Conference.

The conference brings together more than 30 researchers from fields as diverse as archeology, criminology and microbiology. They come from local universities, the Royal B.C. Museum, Vancouver General Hospital, first nations, and institutions as far afield as Indiana and Scotland.

Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi means "long ago person found" in the Southern Tutchone language and refers to the remains of the young aboriginal hunter found frozen in a glacier in 1999 in the Tatshenshini-Alsek Park, part of the traditional territory of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations.

Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi was hailed worldwide as one of the most significant archeological and scientific discoveries ever.

The well-preserved condition of the remains has allowed scientists the rare opportunity to study in detail everything about the ancient man's lifestyle, from the source of clothing he wore, to what he ate and drank in the hours before his death on the glacier.

The preservation of the remains without the ritual of an official burial also made the discovery important, said B.C. archeologist Al Mackie.

"When someone dies an accidental death, it's like a snapshot frozen in time, in this case literally, of what they had with them and what they were doing," he said.

Radiocarbon dating indicates Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi and the artifacts found with him date to approximately 1670 to 1850, which precedes or overlaps with the earliest European contact for the Pacific Coast region.

Among the findings:

- The man was in his late teens or early 20s when he died.

- He wore a robe likely made from about 95 gopher -- or arctic ground squirrel -- skins stitched together with sinew.

- He carried a walking stick, an iron-blade knife and a spearthrower.

Lawrence Joe of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations said 241 individuals from first nations communities in B.C., Yukon and Alaska have voluntarily undergone DNA tests in order to track living relatives, with results anticipated to be revealed at the symposium.

Researchers speculate the man fell into a crevasse while walking along the glacier, and died.

Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi was discovered by three hunters who were pursuing Dall sheep into the park when they came upon some wooden artifacts on the margin of an ice field. A further search of the area revealed the ancient human remains.

The ashes of Kwaday Dan Ts'inchi have since been returned to the glacier following a traditional first nations cremation ceremony in 2001.

The ancient hunter's skull was discovered in 2003 but never removed from the site, which is regularly monitored.

For more information on the symposium, go to www.KDTsymposium.bc.ca



A TASTE OF WHAT SCIENTISTS WILL REVEAL ABOUT KWADAY DAN TS'INCHI, 'LONG AGO PERSON FOUND'

ROBE MADE OF 95 GOPHER SKINS

The garment worn by the ancient hunter had been a rectangular robe made of approximately 95 gopher pelts stitched together with sinew.

Two ties are looped through a strip of thicker leather sewn to one edge of the rectangle.

Unevenly stitched patches indicate the robe was repaired during its use.

Robes in contemporary collections show similarities between them and the Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi robe.

Several samples of sediment, plant materials and fish remains were found on the robe.

The samples yielded a diversity of well-preserved pollen grains, especially those of herbaceous plants. Scrapings from the inside surface contained abundant beach asparagus pollen suggesting that the robe had been placed on the ground in the upper intertidal zone or used often in this environment.

Pollen of cow parsnip in the outside fur reveals that the robe, and presumably its wearer, was in direct contact with this plant of the subalpine meadows.

Charcoal on the inner surface suggests many hours spend near camp fires.

A RED HAT MADE OF WOVEN SPRUCE ROOT

A basketry hat made of split spruce root was found near the frozen remains. Originally it was shaped like a truncated cone, with a nearly flat top and straight flaring sides. The twined weaves and brim finish identify it as Tlingit in style. It was coloured with ochre from red clay.

AN IRON BLADE

A hand tool composed of a wooden handle with an iron blade lashed to one end with a thin hide strip was found near the remains. The wood is consistent with hemlock. The iron blade is highly corroded, and its possible no intact metal remains. No nickel was identified, suggesting a non-meteor iron source.

99%-PURE COPPER BEAD

A small copper bead was found with the frozen remains. The bead consists of almost-pure native copper and is not a smelted industrial product. Traces of silver and arsenic in the bead may let scientists compare it to copper sources in the region. It may have been part of a larger piece.

TRADITIONAL NATIVE HISTORY ABOUT DANGEROUS TRAVEL

The oral history of the first nations people from northern B.C. and southeastern Alaska includes stories of many people who've lost their lives while crossing this icy and mountainous landscape, featuring many glaciers.

TAPEWORMS, BACTERIA AND HAIR SAMPLES

The only evidence of parasitic infection was the eggs of the fish tapeworm Diphyllobothrium sp., which were found in the small intestine and in the descending colon and rectum. Their presence indicate that raw or uncooked fish were part of the diet.

MOSSES AND PLANTS HAVE A STORY TO TELL

About 25 species of mosses were recovered from the ice, clothes and from the intestines and tell the tale of where he travelled from.

STATE OF THE REMAINS

The mostly fleshed torso and thighs were separated across the lower abdomen, likely as a result of a shift in the ice following death. Hand, arm and foot bones, the scalp, hair and skull bones were also recovered seperately. Abdominal organs were found intact, including the heart, lungs, liver and gastrointestinal tract, with abundant samples of food evident in the stomach.

A GLACIER'S WORK

The remains of Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi did not fare well in centuries he lay buried before his discovery in 1999 (right). The right hand wound up 6 metres away from the right foot and other parts were scattered around the ice field in Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park. The diagram at left shows parts of the body that were not accounted for (unshaded).

WOODEN ARTIFACTS

Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi was found with numerous wooden tools, made from woods found in the coastal rainforest. It's still unclear what most of these tools were used for.

THE FOOD THAT KEPT HIM GOING

An environmental scanning electron microscope was used to study the pollen, microscopic plant and animal remains in food samples from the stomach and intestines.

The results show that Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi made his last journey in the late summer, and he ate a varied diet of meat, seafood (including chum salmon), beach asparagus and berries.

In fact, he had a strong marine diet, but showed a dietary shift to terrestrial foods in the years before his death.

Sources: Royal B.C. Museum, Yukon Government Heritage Branch
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