Starchild skull

The Starchild skull is a human skull that has numerous abnormalities. Found in Mexico around 1930, it has been the subject of scientific and para- scientific debate and speculation. It does not fall into the category of any known genetic syndrome , according to Stanford University experts .

history

The skull was given by a Texas couple in February 1999 to the American writer and researcher Lloyd Pye , who died in December 2013, for further investigation . He has become known to a certain extent primarily through his alternative hypotheses on the origin of mankind.

According to Pye's own, but so far unprovable information, the skull was found around 1930 in a mine tunnel 160 km southwest of the Mexican city of Chihuahua by a young person who was vacationing there with her parents and who had owned the skull for 50 years. The skull was lying on the surface next to a normal-shaped skeleton lying on its back.

Numerous other scholars accuse Pye of being fraudulent and pseudoscientific when researching the Starchild's skull. In fact, apart from his own theories, Pye appeared to seek independent examinations of the skull, carried out by eleven different experts in laboratories around the world.

Age

In 1999, at the University of California in Riverside , the age of the normal skull was first determined using the C-14 method , which was next to the Starchild's skull at the site. In 2003 the age of the Starchild skull was determined in Miami at Beta Analytic, the largest laboratory for radiocarbon determination in the world. The determinations came to the conclusion that both skulls must be around 900 years old.

particularities

The Starchild skull has some special anatomical features. Initially, Pye had estimated the deceased to be around 5 years old because of the small facial skull. Today the deceased is estimated to be at least 10–12 years old because of his badly worn teeth; possibly he was even fully grown.

Despite the small facial skull, the skull has a volume of 1,600 cubic centimeters. In contrast, the skull volume of a normal adult is only 1400 cm³ and that of a five-year-old child is around 1200 cm³.

The eye sockets of the skull are conspicuously flat and oval. The position of the optic canal , through which the optic nerve enters the interior of the skull, is remarkable . It is not located in the center of the orbit , but rather clearly caudal , i.e. shifted downwards. The Starchild skull also lacks the frontal sinus , which belongs to the paranasal sinuses .

Analyzes

In 1999, DNA testing at BOLD, a forensic DNA laboratory in Vancouver, British Columbia, revealed that two samples of the skull had normal X and Y chromosomes . However, BOLD was unable to extract DNA from the upper jaw. However, due to the technical possibilities at the time, the laboratory only had an insufficient amount of genetic material available for a precise analysis.

In 2003, Trace Genetics succeeded in extracting mitochondrial DNA as part of further DNA tests . Since this is only inherited through the mother, it could be proven that in the case of the Starchild, she must have had normal human genetic makeup. In addition, it could be proven that the mother was not the woman who was found with the Starchild.

Subsequent tests in 2004 at the University of London's Royal Holloway College revealed fibers and reddish residues in the cancellous bone of the skull that had previously not been found in any other organism.

In addition, radiological examinations showed that the Starchild skull is up to 50 percent thicker, but at the same time only half as thick as the average human skull.

Partial analyzes of the chromosomal DNA in 2010 using shotgun sequencing showed, according to Lloyd Pye, both human and previously unknown DNA sequences. A complete analysis of the chromosomal DNA is currently planned.

The microbiologist Garry Nolan of Stanford University , the earlier the Atacama skeleton had examined, was given the opportunity to study together with a bone specialist skull. In June 2014, he commented on the results of the investigation and ruled that the skull "is unquestionably unusual" because the features of the skull "do not fall into the category of any known genetic syndrome". However, this is not proof that the skull is not human, but rather a human syndrome that is new to science. Furthermore, he could not understand the Starchild team's claim about 56 unknown positions in the FOXP2 gene , as he had not yet had or was aware of an analysis of this.

Investigations 2016/2017

In 2016, the current owner of the skull initiated another analysis under the direction of the Field Reports Science and Technology Research and Investigation Group . These should take place independently of the previous results of the commercially oriented The Starchild Project . They included making a copy of the skull for dental and osteological comparison. Samples were also taken for a scanning electron microscope examination and from the cranial cavity and a tooth of the upper jaw for DNA analysis . Electron microscopy was performed in the laboratories of Selee Corporation and DNA testing was performed in the Paleo-DNA Laboratory at Lakehead University , Canada .

Results of the skull examination

• He agrees in shape most closely with that of a 5-year-old child with Down syndrome match
• the dental examination also showed an age of 5 years
• the skull thickness is in the normal range of a 5 to 7 year old child
• Compared to children of this age (and also adults), however, the skull volume is clearly too large
• anatomical details were found that did not correspond to either a normal person or a person suffering from hydrocephalus
• the skull corresponds in composition and properties to normal bone material
• the existence of the so-called red fibers , which earlier investigations claim to have found, could not be confirmed
• there was no evidence of intentional manipulation of skull deformation
• Both Worm's bones and an Inca leg were found

Results of the DNA examination

• the child was male
• according to the study of mitochondrial DNA mother belonging haplogroup C1 to
• the Y chromosome corresponded to haplogroup Q

It was thus shown that the child is clearly human and belonged to the indigenous population of America, possibly the Mogollon culture depending on the place and age . A precise explanation for the deformations was not found, in particular the DNA samples taken were not suitable for testing for genetic defects. Many of the previously found deviations can be explained simply by the fact that the skull of a child was compared to that of an adult. Some claims about the skull even came from unknown and questionable sources.

Various agencies have been contacted in order to check whether the skull may be repatriated under US law .

Other comparable skulls

Another skull with similar features was found in Uberaba , Brazil a few years ago. Today it is located in the local historical natural history museum. However, this “second” Starchild skull is about twice the size of a normal adult skull and is therefore more reminiscent of hydrocephalus. In addition, two other similar skulls were reportedly found - one in Peru and one in Mexico.

literature

• Lloyd Pye: Terrible Two's: Summary of the First Two Years. Starchild Project.
• Max McCoy: Star Child. In: Fortean Times. 127, November 1999, pp. 42-45.
• Matthew Brown: A Report on Maxilla and Dental X-Rays. Starchild Project.
• Ted J. Robinson: A Preliminary Analysis of a Highly Unusual Human-Like Skull. Starchild Project.
• Lloyd Pye: A Forensic DNA Analysis of two Unusual Skulls of Uncertain Origin. Starchild Project.
• Lloyd Pye: Early DNA Testing. Starchild Project.
• Alien Skull Mystery Continues. WUSA9, October 23, 2004.
• World Exclusive DNA Photographs.
• Jack Phoenix: Unconvention 2004. In: Fortean Times. 191, Early 2005 (special), pp. 28-30.
• Adelina Chow: The Mystery of the Starchild Skull. World-Mysteries.com, 2006.

Web links

• Official website The Starchild Project (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Starchild skull researcher Lloyd Pye has passed away . frontier science current. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
2. ↑ bibliotecapleyades.net
3. ↑ ^{a b} Starchild Skull DNA Analysis Report 2011. ( Memento of the original from June 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. starchildproject.com, accessed June 21, 2011. 
4. ↑ DNA Testing Summary ( Memento of the original dated September 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Starchild Project. Retrieved September 3, 2014 
5. ↑ New information from Nolan on the status of investigations into the Atacama mummy and the Starchild skull. frontier science current. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
6. ^ [1] Final report, German translation on Grenzwissenschaft-aktuell. Retrieved January 2, 2018.