Various important discoveries have been made in Japan which have positioned it as one of the most surprising and enigmatic places. It has been cataloged by some people as “dark and mysterious”, not only because of strange very old structures, but also because of the remains of people found.
On a small island called bouncein Hokkaido, located in the north of Japan, found a human skeleton from the first millennium that attracted scientists. While studying him, they made a truly amazing discovery, they discovered a stingray on his hip.
This discovery continues to baffle scientists at this time as they have been unable to explain how it got stuck in the hips. The skeleton belonged to a man who, according to studies, died shortly after being attacked.
Doubts over the true cause of death
The skeleton was studied by many scientists from the University of Oxford as well as other Japanese and British researchers. The person in charge of leading the team was Rick Schulting. They all concluded that maybe the stingray injury was not the cause of death because the injury was not serious.
First Millennium Skeleton Details
Hokkaido is one of the largest islands in Japan, the remains found there were discovered by excavators. Approximately between the years 1949 and 1950in the archaeological site called “Uedomari – 5”, more precisely in the region of Rebun.
The little that is known, according to the team of paleontologists, is that the skeleton belonged to a young man who died when he was between 18 and 20 years old. In addition, it measures on average between 1.58 and 1.63 meters in height.
Seen from two different angles, the barb of a skate stuck in the hip of a young Japanese millennial. Credit: Rick J. Schulting et al.
Studies carried out
Scientists tried to investigate a little more, the results of isotopic analyzes showed that in bone collagen there are stable levels of carbon and nitrogen. This indicates that the individual ate seafood.
On the other hand, it is considered the early example of a bone-encrusted ray beard human.
Is it possible that this young man tried to extract it? Some people believe that maybe when trying to pull the tip out, it ended up breaking and that is why it remained in the skeleton.
Based on the position of the tip, scientists believe either the man either did not attempt to remove it from his body or it broke during the attempt.
The short life of man
Some findings suggest that perhaps the man lived around the year 429 AD. Perhaps its origin goes back to the time of the famous Culture of Okhotskcharacterized by their life as hunters and gatherers of marine products.
Significance of discovery
If the man indeed belonged to the Okhotsk culture, then this is a very important finding. Well, this way we will know a little more about the life of hunters and gatherers, as well as about the conflict that remained between these communities ancient.
Was he really hit by a stingray?
Even today, a great debate continues that seems endless, scientists believe that stingray beard was used as a weapon. But they still haven’t ruled out the possibility that the sea animal rammed into it and ended up hurting itself.
However, due to the problems between gatherers and hunters they think the barb was the tip of an arrow. Therefore, his injury is the result of an attack from his enemies. In an article he publishes International Journal of Paleopathology mention that they continue to discuss hypotheses.
a deadly attack
Although it is true that stingrays are a bit clumsy to swimThey are considered one of the smartest sea animals. They are made up of a rather complex and special system, in fact, rays have the same ability as dolphins to jump out of water.
They are different types of scratchesSome of these cartilaginous are not poisonous enough to kill a person. But others could cause a serious infection at the time of the attack.
The danger of walking on a stingray
According to studies, these animals are generally calm, but they attack when they feel threatened or when they are stepped on. Some have reached up to a meter in length. Its venom is located on the back of the tail, it is specifically lodged in small spikes.
You might also be interested in: Scientists discover an unknown ecosystem under the ice of Antarctica.
So far, the discovery remains an enigma. The scientists They hope to do more studies in the future and solve soon the mystery what happened to this young man.
A publication of Science of mystery. All rights reserved. – Redistribution and redistribution of this content without prior permission is expressly prohibited. Site protected by Safe Creative.
Thanks for reading us. We invite you to follow us on our Facebook, to be aware of all the news that we publish daily. You can also join our community at Telegram. We are waiting for you!