Leanderthal Lady

{{short description|10,000 to 13,000 year old skeleton found in Texas, USA}}

Leanderthal Lady is the skeletal remains of a prehistoric woman discovered in January 1983{{Cite web|last=Charpentier|first=Marisa|date=2019-03-28|title='Leanderthal Lady' lives on decades after her discovery|url=https://communityimpact.com/austin/leander-cedar-park/editors-pick/2019/03/28/leanderthal-lady-history/|access-date=2020-09-28|website=impact|language=English}} near the city of Leander, Texas. The remains were alternatively labeled "Leanne".{{Cite web|title=Leanne's Burial|url=https://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/plateaus/prehistory/images/leannes.html|access-date=2020-09-28|website=www.texasbeyondhistory.net}} Both names were inspired by the proximity of the site to the town of Leander, a suburb of Austin. Contrary to her name, the Leanderthal Lady lived during the end of the Ice Age, long after the Neanderthals.{{cite web |last1=Garcia-Buckalew |first1=Bob |title=The woman buried over 10,000 years ago near modern-day Leander |url=https://www.kvue.com/article/news/history/10000-year-old-woman-leander-texas/269-f49c6b3a-c088-4038-a588-648b16209fa0 |website=KVUE |access-date=22 December 2024}}

Leanne was discovered by the Texas Department of Transportation at the Wilson-Leonard Brushy Creek Site (an ancient Native American campsite) during the construction of the highway RM 1431. Scientists described the location as "one of the oldest intact human burial sites discovered in the United States." The land, once donated to the Archaeological Conservancy, was returned to its previous owners after a lengthy legal battle. Leanne's remains and artifacts from the site are kept at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory in Austin.{{cite web |last1=Osborn |first1=Claire |title=Legal fight ends over Leander's Ice Age archaeological site

|url=https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/2010/09/20/legal-fight-ends-over-leander/6679879007/ |website=The Austin-American Statesman |access-date=December 22, 2024}}

Analysis

Carbon dating and stratigraphic analysis showed the remains to be 10,000 to 13,000 years old.{{Cite web|date=2017-09-23|title=Leander Man Thinks He May Have Found Fossilized Human Skull In Backyard|url=https://patch.com/texas/downtownaustin/fossils-found-leander-could-be-human|access-date=2020-09-28|website=Austin, TX Patch|language=en}} The skeleton is of a {{convert|5|ft|3|in|m|adj=on}} tall female who was about 18 to 30 years old at the time of death. The find was significant as one of the oldest and most complete human skeletons found in North America.{{ cite web

|title=Leanderthal Lady - Texas Historical Marker

|author=Texas Historical Commission

|publisher=StoppingPoints

|url=http://www.stoppingpoints.com/texas/sights.cgi?marker=Leanderthal+Lady&cnty=williamson

}}{{ cite web

|title = Leanderthal Lady: Travel the Texas Time Machine Webcast

|author = Bob Parvin

|publisher = Texas Parks & Wildlife Department

|url = http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/learning/webcasts/time/resources/leanderthal.phtml

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090707072513/http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/learning/webcasts/time/resources/leanderthal.phtml

|archive-date = 2009-07-07