Scientists discover oldest North American human remains in Alaska

(Credit: Ben Potter, University of Alaska, Fairbanks)

The remains are of a 11,500-year-old cremated Paleoindian child.

ScienceDaily (Feb. 24, 2011) — Scientists have discovered the cremated skeleton of a Paleoindian child in the remains of an 11,500-year-old house in central Alaska. The findings reveal a slice of domestic life that has been missing from the record of the region's early people, who were among the first to colonize the Americas.

The discovery, by Ben Potter of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and colleagues, appears in the 25 February issue of the journal Science.