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Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2006-12 > 1166501412


From: "Ken Nordtvedt" <>
Subject: Re: [DNA] Amazon Priestess
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 21:10:12 -0700
References: <354011.74688.qm@web59213.mail.re1.yahoo.com>


Many of your questions and doubts about their process are totally
appropriate. This basically was a dramatic recreation of whatever research
was really done. How faithful it was to the truth us outsiders at a
distance will probably not know.

Ken

----- Original Message -----
From: "Cheryl Simani" <>
To: <>
Sent: Monday, December 18, 2006 8:37 PM
Subject: [DNA] Amazon Priestess


> Thanks to Ken, Dora, and Dale for responding..
>
> I expected that this list would be familiar with the project. Mostly,
> I'm interested in the *real* research.
>
> Does anyone have a link to any published, peer-reviewed articles on the
> DNA studies mentioned in the program?
>
> Obviously this was a docu-drama - fiction based on fact.
>
>
> 1) The soil in the excavation of the burial mound looked too loosely
> packed to have been undisturbed.
>
> Problem: This causes one to question if it had been reworked - i.e. they
> knew what was there before filming. It also makes one wonder if the sited
> was *salted* - items added to impress the watchers.
>
> 2) The sex of a burial is usually determined by measuring the angles of
> the pelvis, not glancing at the skull.
>
> Problem: The convenience of their quick diagnosis makes one uneasy.
>
> 3) They wandered around Mongolia and happened upon this little girl, who
> just happened to match the profile they wanted.
>
> Problem: They seem to be playing on TV program, Zena Princess Warrior.
> This feels like a set-up.
>
> 4) Though the sample from the Warrior Priestess' burial was declared to
> be good when taken, it later could not be used as a comparison with the
> girl's.
>
> Problem: This should be investigated further. Were the results really
> poor or did they just not match the girls; and therefore, could not be
> used for video?
>
> 5) The girl's DNA matched another sample taken from one of more than 200
> burials that they had excavated over the past 10 years.
>
> Problem: The total number and results of samples were not given. What
> was the nature and location of the burial that matched the girl? Her
> blonde hair could be from more recent intermarriage of Russians with her
> family. Does her DNA match an IE burial or a Mongolian?
>
> Unless there are published, peer-reviewed articles, I read this as a
> commercial for DNA labs drawing on the success of the Zena series,
> cleverly laid-out for dramatic effect, and disguised as science.
>
>
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