Buhl Woman

The Buhl Woman was an Paleoindian Indigenous American woman whose remains were found in a quarry near Buhl, Idaho, United States, in January 1989. She is thought to have been deliberately buried. Radiocarbon dating has placed the age of the skeleton at 12,740–12,420 calibrated years before present, making her remains some of the oldest in the Americas, though the quality of the dating has been questioned.

History of discovery The remains of the Buhl Woman were uncovered in 1989, when workers at a gravel quarry in Buhl, Idaho noticed a femur in a rock crusher. They then notified Herrett Center for Arts and Science, who along with the workers uncovered and collected more bones, which were eroding from the base of an approximately high exposure of sediment.

Carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of Buhla's bone collagen suggests that Buhl woman ate a diet high in meat, as well as anadromous fish like salmon. The wear patterns in her teeth indicated that the meat was cooked before eating. Her teeth showed signs of heavy wear caused by sand or grit, wear that would be consistent with the use of stone grinding or pounding. Defects in tooth enamel and lines of interrupted growth on her femur indicate periodic malnutrition. This nutritional stress could be seasonal and/or the result of childhood diseases.