A 6,000-year-old skull the oldest known tsunami victim

A 6,000-year-old human skull discovered in a swamp almost a century ago could be from the world’s earliest known tsunami victim.

In 1929, Australian geologist Paul Hossfeld stumbled on a partial human skull in a mangrove outside the coastal town of Aitape in Papua New Guinea.

Originally thought to belong to Homo erectus, the skull was subsequently dated to the mid-Holocene period.

New research into the area the skull was buried in suggests the individual fell victim to a violent ancient tsunami.

 

In 1929, Australian geologist Paul Hossfeld stumbled on a partial human skull (pictured) in a mangrove outside the coastal town of Aitape in Papua New Guinea. New research into the area the skull was buried suggests the individual fell victim to a violent ancient tsunami

THE ANCIENT SKULL

In 1929, Australian geologist Paul Hossfeld stumbled on a partial human skull in a mangrove outside the coastal town of Aitape in Papua New Guinea.

Originally thought to belong to Homo erectus, the skull was subsequently dated to the mid-Holocene period, about 6,000 years ago.

Researchers found diatoms – small single-cell organisms that live in water and are sensitive environmental indicators – and used those to learn more about the water conditions at the time.

High-energy water combined with chemical signatures and specific sediment grain sizes all indicate the presence of a tsunami at the time the skull was buried.

Dr Golitko said it’s possible that the skull was buried before and it was washed out as the tsunami came across but, based on observations of modern tsunamis, his team don’t think that’s likely. 

Dr Mark Golitko, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Notre Dame in the US, worked with colleagues from the Field Museum in Chicago and institutes in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea to study the skull. 

Dr Golitko and his team went back to where the skull was found, near a place called Paniri Creek, to analyse the soil and strata for clues.

He said: ‘Hossfeld hadn’t really sampled anything; he just did a field description and took the skull out and that was it.

‘What we were doing was actually going in and sampling the sediments to bring back for lab analysis that would tell us a lot more about the age and depositional history there.

‘We don’t know exactly where Hossfeld found the skull, but I think we were within 100 metres of the original location based on his description.’

The team did lab tests on the sediment to look at grain size and geochemistry.

‘We were able to use modern scientific techniques to understand a little more about how this place formed and what we were actually looking at’, he said. 

They found diatoms – small single-cell organisms that live in water and are sensitive environmental indicators – and used those to learn more about the water conditions at the time.

Dr Golitko said: ‘Diatoms make little silica shells around themselves, and when they die, those sink to the bottom.

‘So we put the sediment under a microscope and counted these diatoms, and it more or less tells you about the temperature, salinity and how energetic the water was that they were living in.’

The sediments suggest the Aitape skull was inundated by water. 

He said the high-energy water, combined with chemical signatures and specific sediment grain sizes, all indicate the presence of a tsunami at the time the skull was buried.

Scientists explaining their project to people living near Aitape. The most recent tsunami to swamp the Aitape region in 1998 killed more than 2,000 people

Scientists explaining their project to people living near Aitape. The most recent tsunami to swamp the Aitape region in 1998 killed more than 2,000 people

Originally thought to belong to Homo erectus, the skull, found in Aitape, was subsequently dated to the mid-Holocene period

Originally thought to belong to Homo erectus, the skull, found in Aitape, was subsequently dated to the mid-Holocene period

It’s possible that the skull was buried before and it was washed out as the tsunami came across but, based on observations of modern tsunamis, the team don’t think that’s likely.

Co-author Dr John Terrell said: ‘If we are right about how this person had died, we have dramatic proof that living by the sea isn’t always a life of beautiful golden sunsets and great surfing conditions.

‘Maybe this individual can help us as scientists to convince sceptics today that all of us on earth must take climate change and rising sea levels seriously as the threats they truly are.’

Study first author Professor James Goff, said: ‘We have now been able to confirm what we have long suspected.

‘The geological similarities between the sediments at the place where the skull was found and sediments laid down during the 1998 tsunami that hit this same coastline have made us realise that human populations in this area have been affected by these massive inundations for thousands of years.

The skull was found in the the coastal town of Aitape in Papua New Guinea. Dr Golitko said people probably started moving from the mountains to the coastlines in that area around 6,000 years ago

The skull was found in the the coastal town of Aitape in Papua New Guinea. Dr Golitko said people probably started moving from the mountains to the coastlines in that area around 6,000 years ago

HOW DO TSUNAMIS FORM?

Tsunamis are formed by volcanoes, earthquakes, landslides or meteorite impacts under the ocean which displace huge amounts of water.  

Tsunamis can be up to 60 miles (100km) long and each wave can be up to one hour apart.

They travel at up to 500 mph (800kph) and cross oceans in a day or less.

When these waves reach the coast they slow down. The top of the wave moves faster than the bottom which causes a bulge in the sea.

Some tsunamis can surge up to 100 feet (30m) high. 

The energy of these waves can be dissipated by reefs, bays and river entrances. 

Source: National Geographic

‘Given the evidence we have in hand, we are more convinced than before that this person was either violently killed by a tsunami, or had their grave ripped open by one – leading to their head but not the rest of their body being naturally reburied where it then remained undiscovered in the ground for some 6,000 or so years.’

Now Dr Golitko hopes the study can help start discussions about how people adapt and thrive in coastal areas that are subject to tropical storms, earthquakes and tsunamis.

The most recent tsunami to swamp the Aitape region in 1998 killed more than 2,000 people.

Dr Golitko said people probably started moving from the mountains to the coastlines in that area around 6,000 years ago.

He added: ‘What’s interesting is despite the fact that they’re now moving to this super risky environment, we see that people seem to have been living there more or less continuously from then on.

‘So they obviously come up with strategies for dealing with these risks, which could be very pertinent for thinking about what’s going to be happening in the next couple hundred years.

‘It’s the next challenge to look at how people were living in that area and how they’re responding to these risks as they start to move into these environments’, he said. 

 

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