Ancient skull from oldest tsunami victim: Scientists

Canberra, Oct 26 (IANS) An ancient human skull discovered in Papua New Guinea is likely to have belonged to the world's oldest-known tsunami victim, scientists revealed on Thursday.

The skull was discovered in 1929 near the town of Aitape and originally attributed to the Homo erectus species, an ancestor of modern humans, reports the BBC.

However, the scientists have now said that the area was once a coastal lagoon that was hit by a tsunami about 6,000 years ago.

They believe the skull belonged to a person who died in the tsunami.

The discovery came after the international team compared sediments from the area with soil from a nearby region hit by a devastating tsunami in 1998.

"While the bones had been well studied, little attention had previously been paid to the sediments where they were unearthed," the BBC quoted first author James Goff, from the University of New South Wales, as saying on Thursday.

The "geographical similarities" in the sediments showed that humans had experienced tsunamis in the area for thousands of years, he said.

"We conclude that this person who died there so long ago is probably the oldest-known tsunami victim in the world."

Researchers said the findings, published in the journal PLOS One, raise questions about whether other archaeological discoveries in coastal areas should be re-evaluated.

--IANS

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