This 6,000-year-old skull probably belonged to the oldest known tsunami victim

Site location and skeletal remains.
(Image credit: Goff J, Golitko M, Cochrane E, Curnoe D, Williams S, Terrell J/PLoS ONE)

When a geologist first dug up an ancient human skull in Papua New Guinea back in 1929, he assumed it was millions of years old. Now, researchers have uncovered its real story.

The skull is actually 6,000 years old and belonged to a tsunami victim, according to analysis published in the journal PLOS ONE. And even though it's younger than originally thought, the skull likely belongs to the oldest known tsunami victim.

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Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.