Robert Kar
Thu, Jun-21-07, 17:17
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Researchers Find 'First Gun Victim'
(AP) -- The musket blast was sudden and deadly, the killing
nearly 500 = years ago of what may have been the first gunshot
victim in the Western = Hemisphere.
"We didn't expect it. We saw this skull and saw the almost
round hole = and thought people must have been shooting around
here recently," said = Guillermo Cock, an archaeologist who
found the remains near Lima, Peru.=20
But he realized that the skull was ancient, and a recent
bullet strike = would simply have shattered it, Cock said in a
telephone interview.=20
The skull was found among a large group of bones of ancient
Incas, who = had died violently in the early 1500s as the
Spanish Conquistadors = battled the native empire.=20
The bones were in shallow graves, leading the archaeologist to
speculate = the burials were done hurriedly during conflict,
perhaps an uprising = against the Spanish in 1536.=20
To be sure this was a gunshot wound - making it the earliest
one = documented in the Americas - the skull was studied by
forensics expert = Tim Palmbach at the University of New
Haven, who brought in other = experts.=20
Al Harper, director of the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic
Science in = New Haven, Conn., said the team "tried to rule
out all kinds of causes = of the hole - a rock from a
slingshot, spear, sledgehammer." Harper and = Palmbach studied
the skull with a powerful scanning electronic = microscope.=20
"We all thought it was a million-to-one chance that we would
find any = traces of metal on a skull that old, but it was
worth a try," Harper = said in a statement.=20
But there they were, fragments of metal from a musket ball
impregnated = the area surrounding the hole.=20
Cock and archaeologist Elena Goycochea discovered the burials
in a Lima = suburb in 2004 and have since recovered 72
apparent victims of violence = from the site.=20
"These bodies were strangely buried," Cock said. "They were
not facing = the right direction, they were tied up or hastily
wrapped in a simple = cloth, they had no offerings and they
were buried at a shallow depth.=20
"Some of the bodies also showed signs of terrible violence.
They had = been hacked, torn, impaled - injuries that looked
as if they had been = caused by iron weapons - and several had
injuries on their heads and = faces that looked as if they
were caused by gunshots."=20
One skull in particular had both an entrance and exit wound,
suggestive = of a musket ball and prompting him to seek
experts to study it. A plug = of bone from one of the holes
was recovered nearby, he added.=20
The conclusion: A musket ball less than an inch in diameter
struck the = back of the skull and passed through the head.=20
"This conclusively proves that the person was killed by a
gunshot, and = he is the first identified shooting victim in
the Americas," Cock said.=20
Since the initial find, at least two other apparent gunshot
victims have = been identified and the research is
continuing.=20
Cock discussed his find during a visit to the National
Geographic = Society, which supported the work. His findings
will be detailed June 26 = on a NOVA/National Geographic
television special, "The Great Inca = Rebellion."=20
In 2002, Cock reported finding more than 2,000 Inca mummies
buried = beneath a shantytown near Lima, a find he said helped
shed light on the = life, health and culture of this
civilization.=20
=A9 2006 The Associated Press.
http://www.physorg.com/news101537258.html
--=20 Posted by Robert Karl Stonjek
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<DIV><TBODY><TR><B><FONT size=3D5>Researchers Find 'First
Gun=20 Victim'</FONT></B></DIV><STRONG></STRONG></TD><-
/TR><TR><TD>
<DV><BR><B>(AP) -- The musket blast was sudden and deadly,
the killing = nearly=20 500 years ago of what may have
been the first gunshot victim in the = Western=20 Hemi-
sphere.</B></DIV><STRONG></STRONG></TD></TR><TR><TD>
<DVI><BR>"We didn't expect it. We saw this skull and saw the
almost = round hole=20 and thought people must have
been shooting around here recently," said =
Guillermo=20 Cock, an archaeologist who found the
remains near Lima, Peru. = <BR><BR>But he=20 realized
that the skull was ancient, and a recent bullet strike
would = simply=20 have shattered it, Cock said in a
telephone interview. <BR><BR>The skull = was=20 found
among a large group of bones of ancient Incas, who had
died = violently in=20 the early 1500s as the Spanish
Conquistadors battled the native empire.=20 <BR><BR>The
bones were in shallow graves, leading the archaeologist
to = speculate=20 the burials were done hurriedly
during conflict, perhaps an uprising = against the=20
Spanish in 1536. <BR><BR>To be sure this was a gunshot
wound - making it = the=20 earliest one documented in
the Americas - the skull was studied by = forensics=20
expert Tim Palmbach at the University of New Haven, who
brought in other =
experts. <BR><BR>Al Harper, director of the Henry C. Lee
Institute of = Forensic=20 Science in New Haven, Conn., said
the team "tried to rule out all kinds = of=20 causes of the
hole - a rock from a slingshot, spear, sledgehammer." = Harper
and=20 Palmbach studied the skull with a powerful scanning
electronic = microscope.=20 <BR><BR>"We all thought it was a
million-to-one chance that we would = find any=20 traces of
metal on a skull that old, but it was worth a try," Harper =
said in a=20 statement. <BR><BR>But there they were, fragments
of metal from a musket = ball=20 impregnated the area
surrounding the hole. <BR><BR>Cock and = archaeologist
Elena=20 Goycochea discovered the burials in a Lima suburb in
2004 and have since =
recovered 72 apparent victims of violence from the site.
<BR><BR>"These = bodies=20 were strangely buried," Cock said.
"They were not facing the right = direction,=20 they were tied
up or hastily wrapped in a simple cloth, they had no =
offerings=20 and they were buried at a shallow depth.
<BR><BR>"Some of the bodies = also showed=20 signs of terrible
violence. They had been hacked, torn, impaled - = injuries
that=20 looked as if they had been caused by iron weapons -
and several had = injuries on=20 their heads and faces that
looked as if they were caused by gunshots."=20 <BR><BR>One
skull in particular had both an entrance and exit wound, =
suggestive=20 of a musket ball and prompting him to seek
experts to study it. A plug = of bone=20 from one of the holes
was recovered nearby, he added. <BR><BR>The = conclusion: A=20
musket ball less than an inch in diameter struck the back of
the skull = and=20 passed through the head. <BR><BR>"This
conclusively proves that the = person was=20 killed by a
gunshot, and he is the first identified shooting victim in =
the=20 Americas," Cock said. <BR><BR>Since the initial find,
at least two other =
apparent gunshot victims have been identified and the research
is = continuing.=20 <BR><BR>Cock discussed his find during a
visit to the National = Geographic=20 Society, which supported
the work. His findings will be detailed June 26 = on a=20
NOVA/National Geographic television special, "The Great Inca
Rebellion." =
<BR><BR>In 2002, Cock reported finding more than 2,000 Inca
mummies = buried=20 beneath a shantytown near Lima, a find he
said helped shed light on the = life,=20 health and culture of
this civilization. <BR><BR>=A9 2006 The Associated =
Press<EM>.</EM></DIV>
<DVII><A=20 href=3D"http://www.physorg.com/news101537258.htm-
l">http://www.physorg.com=
/news101537258.html</A></DIV>
<DVIII> </DIV>
<DIX><BR>-- <BR>Posted by<BR>Robert Karl=20
Stonjek</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV></BODY></HTML>
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Researchers Find 'First Gun Victim'
(AP) -- The musket blast was sudden and deadly, the killing
nearly 500 = years ago of what may have been the first gunshot
victim in the Western = Hemisphere.
"We didn't expect it. We saw this skull and saw the almost
round hole = and thought people must have been shooting around
here recently," said = Guillermo Cock, an archaeologist who
found the remains near Lima, Peru.=20
But he realized that the skull was ancient, and a recent
bullet strike = would simply have shattered it, Cock said in a
telephone interview.=20
The skull was found among a large group of bones of ancient
Incas, who = had died violently in the early 1500s as the
Spanish Conquistadors = battled the native empire.=20
The bones were in shallow graves, leading the archaeologist to
speculate = the burials were done hurriedly during conflict,
perhaps an uprising = against the Spanish in 1536.=20
To be sure this was a gunshot wound - making it the earliest
one = documented in the Americas - the skull was studied by
forensics expert = Tim Palmbach at the University of New
Haven, who brought in other = experts.=20
Al Harper, director of the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic
Science in = New Haven, Conn., said the team "tried to rule
out all kinds of causes = of the hole - a rock from a
slingshot, spear, sledgehammer." Harper and = Palmbach studied
the skull with a powerful scanning electronic = microscope.=20
"We all thought it was a million-to-one chance that we would
find any = traces of metal on a skull that old, but it was
worth a try," Harper = said in a statement.=20
But there they were, fragments of metal from a musket ball
impregnated = the area surrounding the hole.=20
Cock and archaeologist Elena Goycochea discovered the burials
in a Lima = suburb in 2004 and have since recovered 72
apparent victims of violence = from the site.=20
"These bodies were strangely buried," Cock said. "They were
not facing = the right direction, they were tied up or hastily
wrapped in a simple = cloth, they had no offerings and they
were buried at a shallow depth.=20
"Some of the bodies also showed signs of terrible violence.
They had = been hacked, torn, impaled - injuries that looked
as if they had been = caused by iron weapons - and several had
injuries on their heads and = faces that looked as if they
were caused by gunshots."=20
One skull in particular had both an entrance and exit wound,
suggestive = of a musket ball and prompting him to seek
experts to study it. A plug = of bone from one of the holes
was recovered nearby, he added.=20
The conclusion: A musket ball less than an inch in diameter
struck the = back of the skull and passed through the head.=20
"This conclusively proves that the person was killed by a
gunshot, and = he is the first identified shooting victim in
the Americas," Cock said.=20
Since the initial find, at least two other apparent gunshot
victims have = been identified and the research is
continuing.=20
Cock discussed his find during a visit to the National
Geographic = Society, which supported the work. His findings
will be detailed June 26 = on a NOVA/National Geographic
television special, "The Great Inca = Rebellion."=20
In 2002, Cock reported finding more than 2,000 Inca mummies
buried = beneath a shantytown near Lima, a find he said helped
shed light on the = life, health and culture of this
civilization.=20
=A9 2006 The Associated Press.
http://www.physorg.com/news101537258.html
--=20 Posted by Robert Karl Stonjek
------=_NextPart_000_015B_01C7B459.831A0CC0 Content-Type:
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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=3DContent-Type
content=3D"text/html; = charset=3Diso-8859-1"> <META
content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.3790.1218" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY>
<DIV><TBODY><TR><B><FONT size=3D5>Researchers Find 'First
Gun=20 Victim'</FONT></B></DIV><STRONG></STRONG></TD><-
/TR><TR><TD>
<DV><BR><B>(AP) -- The musket blast was sudden and deadly,
the killing = nearly=20 500 years ago of what may have
been the first gunshot victim in the = Western=20 Hemi-
sphere.</B></DIV><STRONG></STRONG></TD></TR><TR><TD>
<DVI><BR>"We didn't expect it. We saw this skull and saw the
almost = round hole=20 and thought people must have
been shooting around here recently," said =
Guillermo=20 Cock, an archaeologist who found the
remains near Lima, Peru. = <BR><BR>But he=20 realized
that the skull was ancient, and a recent bullet strike
would = simply=20 have shattered it, Cock said in a
telephone interview. <BR><BR>The skull = was=20 found
among a large group of bones of ancient Incas, who had
died = violently in=20 the early 1500s as the Spanish
Conquistadors battled the native empire.=20 <BR><BR>The
bones were in shallow graves, leading the archaeologist
to = speculate=20 the burials were done hurriedly
during conflict, perhaps an uprising = against the=20
Spanish in 1536. <BR><BR>To be sure this was a gunshot
wound - making it = the=20 earliest one documented in
the Americas - the skull was studied by = forensics=20
expert Tim Palmbach at the University of New Haven, who
brought in other =
experts. <BR><BR>Al Harper, director of the Henry C. Lee
Institute of = Forensic=20 Science in New Haven, Conn., said
the team "tried to rule out all kinds = of=20 causes of the
hole - a rock from a slingshot, spear, sledgehammer." = Harper
and=20 Palmbach studied the skull with a powerful scanning
electronic = microscope.=20 <BR><BR>"We all thought it was a
million-to-one chance that we would = find any=20 traces of
metal on a skull that old, but it was worth a try," Harper =
said in a=20 statement. <BR><BR>But there they were, fragments
of metal from a musket = ball=20 impregnated the area
surrounding the hole. <BR><BR>Cock and = archaeologist
Elena=20 Goycochea discovered the burials in a Lima suburb in
2004 and have since =
recovered 72 apparent victims of violence from the site.
<BR><BR>"These = bodies=20 were strangely buried," Cock said.
"They were not facing the right = direction,=20 they were tied
up or hastily wrapped in a simple cloth, they had no =
offerings=20 and they were buried at a shallow depth.
<BR><BR>"Some of the bodies = also showed=20 signs of terrible
violence. They had been hacked, torn, impaled - = injuries
that=20 looked as if they had been caused by iron weapons -
and several had = injuries on=20 their heads and faces that
looked as if they were caused by gunshots."=20 <BR><BR>One
skull in particular had both an entrance and exit wound, =
suggestive=20 of a musket ball and prompting him to seek
experts to study it. A plug = of bone=20 from one of the holes
was recovered nearby, he added. <BR><BR>The = conclusion: A=20
musket ball less than an inch in diameter struck the back of
the skull = and=20 passed through the head. <BR><BR>"This
conclusively proves that the = person was=20 killed by a
gunshot, and he is the first identified shooting victim in =
the=20 Americas," Cock said. <BR><BR>Since the initial find,
at least two other =
apparent gunshot victims have been identified and the research
is = continuing.=20 <BR><BR>Cock discussed his find during a
visit to the National = Geographic=20 Society, which supported
the work. His findings will be detailed June 26 = on a=20
NOVA/National Geographic television special, "The Great Inca
Rebellion." =
<BR><BR>In 2002, Cock reported finding more than 2,000 Inca
mummies = buried=20 beneath a shantytown near Lima, a find he
said helped shed light on the = life,=20 health and culture of
this civilization. <BR><BR>=A9 2006 The Associated =
Press<EM>.</EM></DIV>
<DVII><A=20 href=3D"http://www.physorg.com/news101537258.htm-
l">http://www.physorg.com=
/news101537258.html</A></DIV>
<DVIII> </DIV>
<DIX><BR>-- <BR>Posted by<BR>Robert Karl=20
Stonjek</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV></BODY></HTML>
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