Paleoclimatology 101 - Milankovitch Ice Age Theory

Figure One - Ice Age Man. Courtesy of 
Manhattan's Museum of Natural History.  

During the Pleistocene, massive sheets of ice flowed southward across Canada into the northern United States about seventeen times. These ice events lasted for approximately 1.65 million years. 

Imagine what Canada and other northern hemisphere countries were like with a mile or so of ice on top of the land for thousands of years. The ice sheets were heavy enough to push the Earth's crust down approximately 1000 feet. Where did all the water for the ice come from? Answer: the oceans! Sea levels dropped substantially! 

Do we know what caused these Ice Ages? 

Let me present one plausible theory.  

Figure Two - An estimate of the depth of ice in meters
 from the Wisconsin glaciation around 21,000 years ago. 

During the last Ice Age, ice sheets spread and shrank roughly on a 100,000 year-long-cycle. Glaciers dominated the land from 60,000 to 90,000 years during the cold phase of the cycle, and then mostly disappeared for 10,000 to 40,000 years during the warm phase of the cycle (Bonnicksen 2000; p. 5). 

The Wisconsin glaciation started about 100,000 years ago in North America, and ice sheets reached maximum thickness around 18,000 years ago. The warming trend began around 17,000 years ago, and the ice sheets started to melt, and there was a lot of ice to melt! 

Figure Two represents an estimate of how thick the ice sheets were in meters in four future North American cities. It took 11,000 years for Canada to completely thaw out, right around 6,000 years ago. Since then, Earth has had an interglacial climate. 

 

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Several factors influence climate: the sun’s energy output, carbon dioxide levels, and ocean currents. All three factors are important, but the single most important factor in driving our climate is called insolation! Insolation is the amount of solar energy that reaches the Earth from the Sun. If you don’t believe that the sun has much influence on the climate, try living in Alaska in the middle of January. 

Researchers have found that the sun’s output varies and that the amount of sunlight that reaches certain parts of the globe is affected by how the Earth orbits the sun. A Serbian astronomer-mathematician by the name of Milutin Milankovitch (1879-1958) hypothesized that past glacial cycles correlated to cyclical changes in insolation and that the Earth’s circumnavigation around the sun was the main cause of the Earth's cyclical changes in insolation. Milankovitch and others claimed that the Earth’s orbital path had a huge impact on past global cooling and warming cycles. Milankovitch tested his theory against temperature data from the paleoclimate records and proposed a 100,000 year-cycle between ice sheets. He claimed that the ice sheets were not created by dramatic changes in the amount of insolation reaching Earth, but by how the solar energy was distributed on Earth. He identified three circumnavigation cycles that were responsible for the Ice Ages: 1) eccentricity, 2) axial tilt or obliquity, and 3) wobble or precession.

Eccentricity. Milankovitch defined eccentricity as the shape of the Earth’s orbit around the sun. I always assumed that the Earth rotates around the sun in a circular orbit, but due to the gravitational pull from other planets, the Earth does not orbit the sun in a perfect circle. The Earth has an elliptical orbit around the sun that varies from five percent to zero percent ellipticity over a 100,000-year-long cycle (Figure Five). The elliptical orbit of the Earth reduces or increases solar radiation during the various seasons. When the Earth is in its most elliptical orbit, it receives twenty to thirty percent more solar energy at its perihelion (when Earth is closest to the sun) than at its aphelion (when Earth is farthest from the sun). Currently, Earth is in its interglacial cycle, and its eccentricity is at a minimum.

Figure Five - Eccentricity. The Earth moves in a slightly elliptical
path during its annual revolution around the Sun.  

Axial tilt or Obliquity. The second circumnavigational cycle proposed by Milankovitch was axial tilt, or the inclination of the Earth’s spinning axis in relation to its orbital plane around the sun. 

When I first read that definition, I begged the author to "speak English, please." It is a hard concept to visualize, but it makes sense once it is grasped.  

Earth orbits the sun at a different angle than the angle at which the Earth rotates around its own axis (Figure Six). Earth’s rotational axis is currently at an angle of 23.4 degrees from its orbital plane around the sun. Milankovitch calculated that the Earth’s rotational axis and its orbital plane around the sun vary from 21.5 to 24.5 degrees over a 41,000-year-long cycle. Axial tilt or obliquity is what creates our seasons. When there is less of an axial tilt, the Sun’s solar radiation is better distributed between summer and winter, with increased differences in radiation between equatorial and polar regions. Milankovitch's hypothesis claimed that a smaller axial tilt angle promotes the growth of ice sheets because warmer winters hold more moisture and produce more snowfall, while cooler summer temperatures cause less ice melt. Under these conditions, ice sheets can grow from year to year, etc.!    

 

Figure Six - Axial Tilt or Obliquity. The Earth is tilted on its rotational axis
23.4 degrees from a plane perpendicular to the surface over
which moves during its revolution around the Sun.  

Precession or Wobble is the third circumnavigational cycle. Some years ago, scientists proposed that the Earth’s axis wobbled due to lunisolar forces, changing the orientation of the rotational axis of the Earth. This wobble as Earth spins on its axis is very slow and is on an approximately 23,000-year-long cycle (Figure Seven). The Earth wobbles enough to change from pointing at the North Star (Polaris) to pointing at another star called Vega over time.

Figure Seven - Precession or wobble. The effect of the wobble is to
systematically change the timing of the solstices and equinoxes
relative to the extreme positions the Earth occupies on
its elliptical path around the Sun.  

When the Earth’s axis points at Vega, the Northern Hemisphere winter and summer solstices coincide with aphelion (when Earth is farthest from the sun) and perihelion (when Earth is nearest to the sun), respectively. Winter occurs when Earth is farthest from the sun, and summer occurs when Earth is nearest the sun, leading to the greatest seasonal contrast. In the Northern Hemisphere, winter will end in July and August, and summer in January and February during the 23,000-year-long cycle. This happens because axial tilt or obliquity still accounts for the seasons: summer when that hemisphere leans toward the sun, and winter when that hemisphere leans away from the sun. 

Does your head hurt as much as mine did when I first studied this theory? 

You might be asking what the bottom line is. See below.  

Milutin Milankovitch suggested that the right combination at the right time of these three circumnavigational cycles is conducive to glaciation. The first condition is minimal axial tilt or obliquity. Changes in axial tilt have very little effect from solar radiation at lower latitudes but increase the effect toward the poles. As axial tilt increases, summer radiation increases significantly. Therefore, minimal axial tilt is conducive to ice sheet buildup. The second condition is high eccentricity. Eccentricity variations affect the intensity of the seasons because it alters the distance the Earth is from the sun. The third condition is Northern Hemisphere summer should coincide with an aphelion (when Earth is farthest from the sun), which creates cooler summers, which translates to less melting of existing ice sheets. 

When all three conditions converge, we have what is often referred to as a "cold orbit," and the chances are high that ice sheets will expand! Notice, I never once mentioned "man-made climate change". 

       

2000    Bonnicksen, Thomas M. America’s Ancient Forests from the Ice Age to the Age of Discovery. John Wiley and Sons. New York.

2015    Bradley, Raymond S.  Paleoclimatology - Reconstructing Climates of the Quaternary. Third Edition. Elsevier Publishing. New York.   

The historical fiction novels written by John Bradford Branney are known for their impeccable research and biting realism. In his latest blockbuster novel BEYOND the CAMPFIRE, Branney catapults his readers back to the Late Pleistocene, where they reunite with some familiar faces from Branney’s best-selling prehistoric adventure series, the SHADOWS on the TRAIL Hexalogy. BEYOND the CAMPFIRE is the eleventh published book by Branney.

Author Branney earned a geology degree from the University of Wyoming and an MBA from the University of Colorado. He lives in the Colorado Mountains with his family. 

Part III -- An Atlatl Spur and the SHADOWS on the TRAIL

Figure One - 2.2-inch-long granite atlatl spur surface found on private land
in Kings County, California, by Connie Hudson before 1970.
John Bradford Branney Collection.  

The purpose of the atlatl weapon system is to extend the arm of the thrower, much like a lever. When thrown properly, the atlatl handle increases the velocity of the spear. 

The finger bone's connected to the hand bone,
The hand bone's connected to the arm bone,
The arm bone's connected to the shoulder bone,
Now shake dem skeleton bones!

Dem bones, dem bones gonna walk around
Dem bones, dem bones, gonna walk around
Dem bones, dem bones, gonna walk around
Now shake dem skeleton bones!

When I think about the process of flinging a spear with an atlatl weapon system, the above tune comes to mind. Many of us remember this song from our childhoods. The various muscles and bones in the human body work together in unison and harmony to make us move. To make a successful atlatl throw, various components in the atlatl weapon system and the human body must work together in unison and harmony. One difference between the atlatl weapon system and the human body is that, in the throwing process, one of the components detaches from the rest of the components: the atlatl spear or dart. We'd better hope that we don't have any detaching components from the human body!

Figure Two - Atlatl mechanics. 

Most experts believe that prehistoric humans had access to the atlatl weapons system in North America as far back as the Clovis Paleoindians. Archaeological evidence for this is circumstantial. However, we do have clear evidence that the atlatl was in play in North America as early as the Middle Archaic. One of the reasons that atlatls might not be found in older Paleoindian sites is that atlatls or throwing handles were mostly made of perishable material. 

Based on archaeological evidence, bow and arrow technology replaced most atlatl technology in North America sometime around A.D. 200 to A.D. 500. There were some atlatl holdouts. When Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés landed in Mexico around A.D. 1519, he found the atlatl weapon system in use within the Aztec population. Cortés also discovered that Spanish chain mail armor wasn't always effective against the penetration of an atlatl-thrown spear. 

Figure Three - Close-up of the tail end of a spear, which connects to a spur
on the atlatl or throwing handle. 

An atlatl or throwing handle is a piece of wood, bone, or antler, two feet or so long. One end of the atlatl was for the thrower's hand, while the other end connected to the spear via a peg, hook, or spur (figure three). A cup or indentation at the tail end of the spear fits onto the spur of the atlatl handle. 

Figure Four - Rounded and
polished tip of the hummingbird atlatl spur. 

I will refer to the peg, hook, or spur at the tail end of the atlatl or throwing handle as simply the spur. The spur's purpose is to connect the tail end of the spear to the atlatl. The spur and the tail end of the spear work on the same principle as a ball and socket. A ball and socket is a mechanical device where the ball (in that case, the spur) rotates in a socket (in that case, the indented end of the spear) and allows rotating motion within the limits of the design. In other words, the cupped or indented end of the spear rotates on the spur until the spear is on its way, and disengages from the spur and the throwing handle. The spear remains engaged at the spur during the throw because the atlatl is traveling at a faster velocity than the spear. When the spear's velocity exceeds the velocity of the atlatl, the spear disengages from the spur on its way to the target.  

Written another way, when the thrower starts the spear toss, his or her arm pulls the atlatl forward and upward, and the cupped end of the spear rotates on the tip of the spur until the spear disengages from the atlatl and heads towards the target. 

Users of prehistoric atlatl weapon systems made spurs out of bone, rock, antler, and wood. There is one case in prehistoric Colorado where investigators proposed that a bison tooth was used as an atlatl spur. I already mentioned that we suspect that prehistoric humans made their atlatls out of perishable materials, so spurs might be the only things that survived time in the atlatl weapon system. 

Investigators and collectors have found evidence for the use of the atlatl in prehistoric California in almost every region of the state in the form of atlatl spurs. In fact, California has enough prehistoric atlatl spur examples to classify them into categories. (Ralston and Fitzgerald 2014).

Figures one and four show an example of a prehistoric atlatl spur surface found in Kings County, California, by Connie Hudson before 1970. Most of the people I have spoken to about this prehistoric artifact believe this atlatl spur represented a bird's head, specifically a hummingbird's head. 

A bird's head would be an ideal symbol for an atlatl. If we think about a spear launched from an atlatl, flying effortlessly through the sky, what better symbol for a flight than a bird or hummingbird? 

Figure Five - A mock-up of how I believe the birdhead's spur  
was used within the atlatl weapon system.   

Figure five is a drawing showing how I believe the prehistoric human had the hummingbird spur set up. The maker of this atlatl weapon system gouged out a hole in the back end of the wooden handle and attached the spur there. The butt end of the spear or dart was then placed on the rounded knob of the spear. When the prehistoric human flung the wooden handle forward, the spear led the way until it flew on its own.         

Check out my books and links on atlatls at the end of this article!  

ATLATL PART ONE and SHADOWS ON THE TRAIL

ATLATL PART TWO and SHADOWS ON THE TRAIL     

CLICK to ORDER JOHN BRADFORD BRANNEY BOOKS

       

Who Dun It? Clovis, Folsom, or Something Else? Part IV

Figure One - 3.5-inch long semi-translucent biface, a 
surface find from private land in south-central Wyoming.
John Bradford Branney Collection. 

There is a fair chance that the beautiful biface in figure one is an ultrathin knife form from a Paleoindian prehistoric culture from 11,000 to 13,000 plus years ago. Why do I say fair chance and I am not more definitive? Because the late Jim Roth surface found this artifact on private land in Carbon County, Wyoming, and it was a surface find discovered out of archaeological context. Since surface artifact hunters must be 'part detective' when it comes to identifying some artifacts, I will provide some evidence for a prehistoric culture I think it came from. But first, I want to explore a passage from my historical fiction book on Paleoindians titled GHOSTS of the HEART.

For those of you who have not read my popular prehistoric adventure series about the Folsom People, the SHADOWS on the TRAIL Pentalogy, my main character Chayton and other hunters in his tribe carried ultrathin knife forms to filet meat from the prey animals they butchered. In this scene, Chayton and the hunters set up a trap and harvested a small herd of bison. I imagine hunting bison back 12,600 years ago when the book took place was hard work. Butchering bison was probably even harder work.  

When it was all over, the tribe had killed twenty-two tatanka – bison. The meat from the herd would help the tribe through wani yetu – winter. One of the hunters ran to the camp to tell the people of the tribe. Before long, the entire tribe had returned to help butcher and carry the meat back to the camp. First, everyone in the tribe helped lay all of the carcasses on their bellies with legs sprawled. Then a team of two or three butchers worked on each carcass; while one person held and positioned the carcass, the other person chopped, sawed and cut. The team of butchers then cut the hide lengthwise down the back.  

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They then pulled the hide to the ground on both sides of the carcass, creating a mat that would protect the butchered meat from the ground. The team of butchers extracted the tender cuts of meat under the skin of the back first, followed by the forelegs, shoulders, hump meat, rib cage, and body cavity. They would not waste anything. The team of butchers opened up each body cavity and removed the heart, liver, and gall bladder.  

With hammer stones, choppers, and stone knives, the butchers then harvested the hindquarters, hind legs, neck, and skull. As the team of butchers systematically stripped the meat from the carcasses, others carried the meat back to the camp where they cut it into strips and hung it from sagebrush and tree branches to dry. The Folsom People would make pemmican from the meat that was too tough to eat. They then extracted two more delicacies from the skull, the tongue, and the brain.  

Now that I gave you a taste for GHOSTS of the HEART, let's go back to the knife form in question. I believe that this knife form is definitely Paleoindian, either a Folsom ultrathin knife form or a Clovis ovate biface. 

Why? Let me outline my logic.

1. The dimensions of this knife form are: 88 mm long, 42 mm wide, and 5 mm thick, giving it a width to thickness ratio of 8.4, well within the arbitrary width to thickness ratio for ultrathin knife forms of 7 or greater. 

2. The raw material is wild: a beautiful semi-translucent, banded petrified wood.

 

Figure Three - 3.5-inch long biface surface found in Wyoming.
One edge along the biface was polished smooth, indicating to me
that the user handheld it. Note the diving flakes near the middle
of the biface. John Bradford Branney Collection.   

      Figure Four - Powars II red ocher
archaeological site in east  
central Wyoming. 

3. In several flake terminations, there appear to be oxidized iron deposits or staining, much like you would find when red ochre was applied. Ochre is a natural mineral containing ferric oxide. It is typically associated with clay and varies in color from light yellow to brown to red. Red ochre has been found in many different archaeological contexts including Paleoindian occupation floors. Paleoindians sometimes painted their tools and projectile points with red ochre. Red ochre has also been associated with Paleoindian burials. Red ochre was widely used at Paleoindian levels at Powars II, Hanson, Hell Gap, Sheaman, and the Medicine Lodge Creek archaeological sites in Wyoming. Investigators discovered a grinding slab used for pulverizing red ochre nodules and rocks into powder at the Folsom level at the Agate Basin site in eastern Wyoming.

4. We know prehistoric people used different types of ochre for paint pigment, and we assume they used it for both functional and ritualistic reasons. Upper Paleolithic graves in Europe and at least one Clovis grave in the United States contained ochre. Ochre appeared to have an application in the Magdalenian in Europe as an ingredient in an adhesive that was used to haft knife forms and projectile points to handles and foreshafts. Perhaps, North American Paleoindians used red ochre as an adhesive for fastening projectile points and knives to spears and handles. We also know that red ochre preserves wood. That would explain the occurrence of red ochre in the hafting area of many Clovis projectile points. Some investigators also believe that Paleoindian flintknappers in North America might have used red ochre as an abrasive to polish and dull the lateral edges in the hafting areas of projectile points. Dulling the edges was a common practice in Paleoindian and Early Archaic times. We assume this dulling was done to prevent the edge of the stone artifact from cutting the sinew lashings. Red ochre is also commonly found with Clovis tool caches but we cannot be sure of the purpose. 

5. It is not coincidently that the predominant colors used in rock art and cave art in the Old World and in some cases, New World, were black (from charcoal, soot, or manganese oxide), yellow ochre (limonite), red ochre (hematite or burned limonite) and white (kaolin clay, burnt shells, powdered gypsum, or powdered calcium carbonate). 

Figure Five - Clovis and Paleoindian biface thinning sequence. 
From The Agate Basin Site by George C Frison and Dennis J. Stanford.    

6. I love Paleoindian flintknapping, especially the biface thinning through percussion technology. The flaking on the artifact in figures one, three, and six screams out as Paleoindian origin. Paleoindians attacked a piece of flint with carefree, but skilled abandon. The Paleoindian flintknapper's attitude must have been "why thin a biface with ten swings of a hammer when five swings accomplish the same result." Paleoindians thinned bifaces with wide, thin flakes that crossed the face of the biface, sometimes overshooting the other edge (see figure five). The end result was wide, thin, and long flakes that were exceptionally flat which thinned the biface without losing overall length or width. On the artifact in figures one, three, and six; several of these wide-thin-flat flakes terminate midway across the face of the biface, creating step or hinge terminations in the middle of the artifact. These diving flakes created a biconcave cross-section for this knife form. Some of these diving flakes were met by diving flakes from the other side, creating an even more concave profile in the middle of the artifact.

Figure Six - Reverse side of a 3.5-inch long biface. Note diving flakes near 

the middle of the biface. John Bradford Branney Collection.    

Few knife form or biface types are culturally diagnostic. It usually takes finding them in situ under controlled archaeological and geological conditions to determine age or cultural affiliation. This knife form was a surface find but I am hypothesizing that it either came from the Folsom or Clovis Paleoindian culture based on its production technology, knapping characteristics, and the presence of oxidized red ochre. 

But, just because that is what I think does not make it necessarily so. 

Disclaimer: I have NOT had this knife form 'officially' tested for the presence of red ochre, although several knowledgeable collectors and archaeologists have looked it over and concluded the same thing. My assumption that it is red ochre is from those opinions, my experience and research, and observation of the deposits under high magnification. 

So, what is your opinion? Is it a Clovis Ovate Biface
or a Folsom Ultrathin Knife or maybe something else altogether?   

The historical fiction novels written by John Bradford Branney are known for their impeccable research and biting realism. In his soon-to-be-released blockbuster Beyond the Campfire, Branney catapults his readers back into Prehistoric America where they reunite with some familiar faces from Branney’s best-selling prehistoric adventure series the Shadows on the Trail Pentalogy.

John Bradford Branney holds a geology degree from the University of Wyoming and MBA from the University of Colorado. John lives in the Colorado mountains with his wife, Theresa. Beyond the Campfire is the eleventh published book by Branney.

Tough Enough to be a Paleoindian? READ and SEE

Third Edition 

Figure One - 4.1 inch long discoidal biface or core stone which was

the inspiration for the SHADOWS ON THE TRAIL Pentalogy.  

One of the goals when I wrote my prehistoric adventure book series the SHADOWS ON THE TRAIL Pentalogy was to squelch the myth that Paleoindians in North America were cavemen who lacked intelligence and were one step removed from chimpanzees. North American Paleoindians had the same intelligence level and foresight that we have, maybe more. They might have trouble passing an SAT to get into Stanford, but they knew how to survive without the modern conveniences that us 'snowflakes' seem to not be able to live without. I doubt that few people alive today could survive the rigors of North America thirteen thousand years ago. 

How well could you survive without your house, doctors, medications, smart phones, cars, television, grocery stores, fast food outlets, internet, social media, and law and order? How well would you do facing a small-faced bear or a mountain lion or an American lion armed with a spear? 

Figure Two - GHOSTS OF THE HEART, the second book in the
SHADOWS ON THE TRAIL Pentalogy. Available at Amazon.com 

How tough were the Paleoindians? 

Archaeological evidence demonstrates they were quite tough. I emphasized this in my books.

The excerpt below in blue is from my book GHOSTS OF THE HEART. In this specific passage, a Paleoindian named Kangi was confronted by something much larger and meaner than himself. 

How would you deal with this encounter? 

……….Squatting alongside the game trail was a grizzly bear cub, about the size of a small wolf dog. With his heart racing in his chest, Kangi glanced across the meadow, looking for the location of the mother. Instead he spotted another grizzly bear cub running straight toward him, making woofing and snorting sounds. 

Then the bear cub that was squatted on the game trail finally noticed Kangi and it rolled over onto its feet and immediately began bawling loudly. Kangi turned around quickly towards the tunnel, hoping to make a quick escape, but he ran right into the first hunter coming out. 

“A-ah! – Watch out!” Kangi screamed. “Mato! - Bear!”

The hunter appeared confused when Kangi shoved him back into the pine branch tunnel. 

“HOPPO! – LET US GO!” Kangi yelled, shoving the hunter into the tunnel. 

Coming to her cub’s rescue, the grizzly bear sow lunged through the water of the mountain stream, leaving a massive wake behind her. She was across the stream in two lunges and barreled across the meadow at full speed. With her head held low, she grunted loudly as her thick body shimmered and swayed. She closed the gap to Kangi with astonishing speed.

Kangi shoved the hunter into the deceptive safety of the tunnel, but there was still no room for him. Kangi turned to face the grizzly bear sow instead. He placed the butt of a spear into his spear thrower and raised the spear above his shoulder. He reared back his arm and with his entire body, he launched the spear at the charging bear. The spear left the spear thrower with tremendous speed, its trajectory heading straight at the massive grizzly bear sow’s skull. By the time the spear arrived at the grizzly bear sow, she had traveled much closer to Kangi. The spear flew harmlessly over her back, ricocheting off the rocks of the mountain stream. Kangi was just notching another spear when the humongous grizzly bear slammed into him, knocking him a good distance across the meadow where he landed hard on his stomach. With the wind knocked out of him, Kangi attempted to crawl away, but before he got very far, the grizzly bear landed on top of him with her front paws. 

“MATO! MATO!” the hunters screamed at each other in the tunnel, pushing and shoving each other back down the game trail. Chayton held his ground until the frightened hunters, heading in the opposite direction, plowed right over him. 

The grizzly bear sow pounced up and down on top of Kangi’s back, driving him into the soil of the meadow………..

Figure Three - The proposed burial orientation of Kennewick
Man along the Columbia River in Washington.  

Did Kangi survive? Read GHOSTS OF THE HEART to find out. Living in Prehistoric America was not for the weak or timid. Some of the best archaeological evidence to determine the lifestyle of prehistoric man are skeletons. Since skeletons are made up of perishable bone, they are rare to find, especially the old skeletons of Paleoindian or Archaic people.  

One of the more famous and controversial prehistoric skeletons is Kennewick Man. Renowned forensic scientists, Douglas W. Owsley and Richard J. Lantz, studied his skeleton and documented Kennewick Man's controversial history in an excellent book entitled KENNEWICK MAN The Scientific Investigation of an Ancient American Skeleton. Much of the information below came from this landmark study. I recommend you read this book, immediately after you read GHOSTS OF THE HEART. 

Let me introduce you to nine thousand year old Kennewick Man through the facial reconstruction in Figure Four. He came later than the Folsom 

Figure Four - Forensic reconstruction
of Kennewick Man's face.  

People in my SHADOWS ON THE TRAIL Pentalogy by about three thousand years, but as an early Archaic hunter and gatherer, he had the same lifestyle as the Paleoindian Folsom People. 

Two college students discovered Kennewick Man's skull in 1996 along the banks of the Columbia River in Washington. Scientists believe he was between 35 to 39 years old at the time of his death. They estimated that he was 5’7” or 5’8” tall and weighed around 162 lbs. 

Thirty-five years old is young compared to modern-day life expectancy, but Kennewick Man had already experienced some pretty traumatic health issues by the time he died. The scientists found that he had several healed depression wounds in his skull and may have been hard of hearing. Kennewick Man was right handed and there were indications that his arms had gone through strenuous use.

Figure Five - Throwing a spear dozens of times per day
for years using an atlatl would damage anyone's shoulder.  

The scientists found that while Kennewick Man’s left shoulder had normal morphology, his right shoulder and throwing arm exhibited degenerative wear and tear, arthritis, possible cartilage erosion, and a rim fracture of his right scapula. Since Kennewick Man’s survival depended on throwing spears at prey animals, we would expect some shoulder wear and tear, just as we would expect it from a major league baseball pitcher or a NFL quarterback.

Figure Six - Kennewick Man's teeth
were wore down to a nub. 

In addition, Kennewick Man’s upper arms were asymmetrical in both size and shape. The scientists determined that Kennewick Man had atrophy of his left humerus with bowing to the right side. The scientists postulated that a left arm fracture in his earlier life caused the condition. Of course, 'Kennewick Boy' did not have a doctor to consult with for his arm fracture. His arm healed the best it could on its own.    

Kennewick Man’s teeth were in bad shape for any age of man. Check out the photos in figure six and compare his tooth wear with your own. His teeth were wore down to a nub. Kennewick Man was missing a molar and molar wear suggested that he ate food contaminated with fine abrasives and courser particles, such as sand. His tooth wear also suggests he used his teeth for more than just chewing food. He probably used his teeth in task-oriented activities, such as hide preparation and cutting. 



Kennewick Man had extensive chest injuries during his short lifetime (figure seven). His skeleton showed the presence of healed fractures in at least five ribs on his right side. The broken ribs had failed to heal properly, causing flailed chest syndrome, a life-threatening medical condition that occurs when a segment of the rib cage breaks due to trauma and becomes detached from the rest of the chest wall. Kennewick Man received a possible left rib fracture at the same time that the right rib fractures occurred. The scientists found no indication of infection or significant blood supply issue associated with the chest injury. They postulated that this was another young adult injury. Perhaps, Kennewick Man had a collision with a three-thousand pound Bison antiquus? We will never know.

Figure Seven - I recently broke three ribs so I understand.
The difference was I had a doctor and hospital to go to.   

Kennewick Man had bad knees. He had a condition called osteochondritis which is caused from damage to the meniscus, which causes erosion of the cartilage. Osteochondritis occurs most often in children and adolescents. It can cause symptoms either after an injury to a joint or after several months of activity, especially high-impact activity such as jumping and running, that affects the joint. 

In real life, bone under the knee cartilage can die due to lack of blood flow causing bone and cartilage to break free, causing much pain. Eventually, Kennewick Man's  knees were bone on bone. The scientists determined that he lived with this inflammation of the cartilage and / or bone in the knee.

Then, there was the Grand Poobah of injuries. Kennewick Man had a stone projectile point imbedded in his right posterior ilium. The stone projectile had been in his hipbone long enough for the bone to regrow over it. Scientists speculated that the possible symptoms could have included pus drainage for the rest of Kennewick Man's life. This injury might have led to a moderate amount of pain all of the time. This injury might have led to anorexia, sleeplessness, derangement of secretions, great irritability and despondency. An analysis of his leg bones indicated that Kennewick Man had no lasting / significant mobility loss from this injury. The scientists believe that this injury occurred in Kennewick Man’s teen or young adult years. 

So, you think you are tough enough to be a Paleoindian? Not me. These people had an extremely intense existence. They could not dial 911 when they needed help or go to the doctor if they did not feel well or call a cop if they got into a bind. They were on their own, for better or for worse. So, next time any of us feel sorry for ourselves, think about Kennewick Man and what he endured. Amazing, all of a sudden I feel a whole lot better about my own aches and pains. ;). 

So, now your next assignment is to read the SHADOWS ON THE TRAIL Quadrilogy to see if I accurately depicted life 10,700 years ago. Then, let me know what YOU think!   

                  CLICK to ORDER Shadows on the Trail Pentalogy