This article was a synopsis of how scientists made a new discovery in the dating of Australian aborigines. A lock of hair collected from a British Scientist a century ago has been analyzed and is now suggesting that Aborigines migrated to Australia 50,000 years ago. The leader of the group who cracked the genetic code was Eske Willerslev. He is a highly regarded Scientist when it come to DNA. Genetic dates are based on a mixture of statistics and best guesses, but the split times calculated by the Danish team are compatible with the more reliable archaeological dates, which record the earliest known human presence in Australia at 44,000 years ago. The Aborigines’ ancestors could have arrived several thousand years before this date. There are many objections to this recent discovery. Primitive tools have been discovered and they have been dated back only about 6,000 years ago. These tools suggest that when they were used, it was the at the beginning of a civilization, but that wouldn't make sense because recent research shows that the Aborigines' migrated here around 44,000 years ago. The dingo originated on the Asian mainland and became part of the Polynesian domestic menagerie along with the pig, the chicken and the rat. This ensemble had reached New Zealand by A.D. 1250. How the dingo arrived in Australia is an “enigma,” Dr. Savolainen writes, because none of the other elements of Polynesian culture are found there. The Dingos are said to have arrived from Polyensian Islands but what is strange is that the dogs were at that time Domesticated and only traveled with their master. So how did the Dingos end up there? Also, when did Aborigines actually migrate to Australia?
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Overall I think Will did a good job understanding, and telling us about this article. In his review, he did a good job telling us all the main points of the article. He was able to tell us these main points in an organized way as well. Will also does a good job incorporating details (ex. dates and times) in his review. Overall, his review was very easy to read and understand.
ReplyDeleteDespite the aspects of Will’s review that were well presented, there are also some areas that I think Will can improve on. Although Will’s synopsis was very detailed, he did not include a paragraph telling us how this article affects humanity, or a paragraph about what he thinks of the article. I think Will could have added more about the Dingo. Why it was so mysterious that an Asian mainland animal would end up in New Zealand.
Overall, I thought this was a very interesting article. I was very impressed while reading this article because I was amazed that one lock of hair could hold evidence of a human migration. This shocked me and reminded me of how advanced science is today.
I think Will did a good job reporting on his article. There was really good detail on the background of the history of the Aborigines, as well as accurate and important dates regarding the migration and time periods. Also, the article itself was interesting to read about for not many prehistoric finds are locks of hair; usually bones or pottery are common excavations.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the article was left a little open ended with the questions. It would have been better if the summarization was concluded or left with a statement. Second, the information of the dingoes did not really relate to the topic of the article; it would have been more interesting to have more facts of the discovery of the lock of hair instead.
The one thing I thought really stood out was the interest of the article. It is interesting to read about how a piece of hair can unlock so many things about the past and the migrations of certain people. The migrations of the prehistoric people is what made our civilizations what they are today, so it was interesting to read about how something simple like a lock of hair could open more doors to the past.
I think that Will did a great job with summarizing this article. he made some really good points in this article.I liked how he involved Dr. Savolainen in his article to explain that there are specific people involved. He made this article easy to understand and gave information that was clearly important to know.
ReplyDeleteAlthough there were many good ideas and points in this article, i would have like to have read more information on how it can be very affective on people. I would have also liked it if he had given more information on the locks of hair.
I thought that this article was very interesting and i would not mind reading more about it. this article explain many important things that im sure many people would enjoy lerning more about.