Remains of Ice Age infants uncovered in Alaska

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Researchers have uncovered the remains of two Ice Age infants in Alaska’s interior, a discovery archaeologists call the youngest human remains from that era found in northern North America.

The remains dating back about 11,500 years offer a new glimpse into ancient burial practices, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported Tuesday.

Researchers have explored a large sand dune for nearly a decade at a dig site known as the Upward Sun River southeast of Fairbanks. In 2010, archaeologists found the partly cremated remains of a 3-year-old child.

The babies’ remains were discovered last year about 15 inches below in the same area. The bones are well preserved and appear to belong to one child who was stillborn and another who died soon after birth. The three children appear to have died during the same summer, according to researchers.

The infants were buried with stone spearheads and darts. Also found at the site were salmon bones.

“Every bit of new information we’re gathering from Upward Sun and other sites really show a sophisticated subsistence economy,” said University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher Ben Potter, whose team led the dig. Potter details the 2013 discovery in a new report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, according to the newspaper.