Luzia Woman

Luzia is the name for the skeleton of a woman was found in a cave in Brazil and is dated to an age of about 11000-11500 years. Archaeologists believe that the woman was among the first immigrants of South America. The name Luzia is to be regarded as a tribute to Lucy, a more than three million year old partial skeleton of a female interpreted as individual of the species Australopithecus afarensis, found in Africa. The most famous skeleton of America is kept in the Museu Nacional do Brasil in Rio de Janeiro and bears the scientific name Lapa Vermelha IV Hominid 1

Discovery

Luzia's skeleton was in 1975 by a French- Brazilian expedition under the command of the French archaeologist Annette Laming - Emperaire (1917 - 1977) have been found. The bones were found in a cave -like depression near Lapa Vermelha north of Belo Horizonte in Brazil. The skeleton lay under up to 12 feet high debris and mineral deposits, where the skull was separated from the rest of the skeleton. The bones found were in surprisingly good condition.

Investigation

New investigations of the skeleton revealed that it is one of the oldest skeletons Native American that has ever been found. Forensic scientists found that Luzia was about 20 to 25 years old.

The skull of the woman is quite small and oval. The face is marked by a protruding chin. This led leading Brazilian anthropologists to believe that Luzia's ancestors immigrated across the Bering Strait. Maybe they followed from the coastline in boats from Asia. The Brazilian anthropologist from the University of São Paulo Walter Neves put forward the theory that Luzia was a descendant of those people who arrived 15,000 years ago across the land bridge Beringia in America.

Anthropologists designated Luzia's appearance as African, Melanesian, Negrito or Australian ( Aboriginal ). A reconstruction of her face was conducted by Richard Neave from the University of Manchester, who is convinced that Lucy has no Asian ancestors. A comparison with skeletons, which were from members of the extinct people of the Botocudos who lived in the same region, as revealed prominent similarities that Walter Neves classified the Botocudos as prehistoric Indians.

Although only a third of her skeleton was found, anthropologists believe that Lucy could not have been greater than 1.50 m. In addition, they found evidence that the woman died as a result of an accident or animal attack. Further investigation revealed that they belonged to a group of hunters and gatherers.

Luzia 's probably died alone, as could be found in no other skeletons in the nearby neighborhood. Nevertheless, more than 40 additional skeletons, the above-mentioned Bodocudos, found from the same era in Lagoa Santa. Brazilian scientists are trying to prove with the radio carbon dating of the migration theory by Walter Neves.