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Science

Oldest Twin Remains Found In Siberia 41

astroengine writes A team of Canadian and Russian researchers investigating an early Neolithic cemetery in Siberia have identified the world's oldest set of human twins, buried with their young mother. The skeleton of the woman was exhumed in 1997 from a hunter-gatherer cemetery in south-eastern Siberia. Found with 15 marmot teeth — decorative accessories which were probably attached to clothing — the remains were photographed and labelled, but were not investigated by anthropologists. Now Angela Lieverse, a bioarchaeologist at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, and colleagues Andrzej Weber from the University of Alberta, Canada, and Vladimir Bazaliiskii from Irkutsk University, Russia, have examined the skeleton and found remains of twin fetuses nestled between the pelvis and upper legs. The twins, about 36 to 40 weeks old, probably suffocated during their mother's troubled labor nearly 8,000 years ago. "This is not only one of the oldest archaeologically documented cases of death during childbirth, but also the earliest confirmed set of human twins in the world," Lieverse said.
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Oldest Twin Remains Found In Siberia

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  • by Tablizer ( 95088 ) on Friday February 13, 2015 @03:15AM (#49045471) Journal

    First Dupe!

  • shouldn't the oldest "human" things be found in africa ?
    • Re:To think of it, (Score:4, Insightful)

      by sumdumass ( 711423 ) on Friday February 13, 2015 @04:18AM (#49045633) Journal

      The key here is found. Assuming there is nothing unique about the finds, it is really a matter of where have we looked and what was found. And in order to be found, some preservation has to of happened which is not naturally the same from location to location

  • Surprised that a site for scientific minded people does not include that caveat.

    • by gl4ss ( 559668 )

      "This is not only one of the oldest archaeologically documented cases of death during childbirth, but also the earliest confirmed set of human twins in the world,"

      it does. not sure of though if you mean that slashdot is for scientific minded or the other site..

  • by raburton ( 1281780 ) on Friday February 13, 2015 @04:33AM (#49045679) Homepage

    The summary didn't make a lot of sense until I realised they meant 36-40 weeks gestational age, not actual age.

  • Why does Siberia always get the all [nationalgeographic.com] of the coolest [cryptomundo.com] fossils [time.com]?
  • What does it say about the state of the world that most posts in response to this story are stupid jokes?

    Not much. But what does it say about the state of the majority of people now to be found on Slashdot? I don't come here often any more, having known the site from very early (see ID#) it was painfully obvious the kind of people who come here are of a different mind than me.

    However, I thought THIS story could bring some human emotions to the front. All I could feel was deep sadness. My mind was busy imagi

    • by Punko ( 784684 )
      I don't feel sadness for these remains. Just like I don't feel sadness for the creatures caught in the tar pits.

      Humans are a part of nature. We live, we die. This woman died in childbirth. This happened regularly. Thankfully, it happens a lot less now.

      I feel the excitement from the scientists who have made this discovery, and look forward to hearing about findings from their research. The fact that this woman was buried indicates to me that she was mourned by her tribe. There is comfort there,

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