Throughout Module 1, the class observed various instances where fossils are used as means to tell the stories of Earth’s past.  They are a “treasure chest” of information and give valuable records to learn about climates, species, and events in history.  The article I have chosen to blog about is titled “Prehistoric Massacre Hints at War Among Hunters-Gatherers” from the New York Times.  The article explains how human fossils were recently discovered in Lake Turkana, Kenya this past Wednesday.  There were 12 relatively complete skeletons and 15 partial remains of other people found at the site.  What scientists found interesting was that 10 of the skeletons showed unmistakable signs of violence during their death.  This leads to the conclusion of massacre among human species nearly 10,000 years ago.

I found this article interesting because if the event were in fact an attack, it shows that “warfare occurred before the invention of agriculture.” This says a lot about the human species and the evolutionary traits of our ancestors.  War and violence may be a deeply rooted piece of human evolution and can be compared to today’s world, where warfare is still a common characteristic.

Also, it is amazing to me how much can be learned from uncovering the fossils that are preserved around us.  More and more fossils are found every year and uncover a new piece of the puzzle of our past.  As discussed in Module 1, we have learned various events of the world, such as Pleistocene Glaciation and the Younger Dryas, from preserved remnants in the Earth.  Fossils like the ones found on Wednesday also share an important event as it may be the first instance of massacre in a foraging society.  Fossils will continue to serve as an important tool in explaining many of the questions we have from Earth’s past and how the world we know today came to its existence.  I am excited to see what we will dig up next!

Gorman, James. “Prehistoric Massacre Hints at War Among Hunter-Gatherers.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 20 Jan. 2016. Web. 21 Jan. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/21/science/prehistoric-massacre-ancient-humans-lake-turkana-kenya.html?action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront>.