A Startling Discovery
Jacob White
In my six years writing for Sacramento Special Report, I have yet to have the pleasure of sharing a discovery of this magnitude. Against all conventional anthropological theories, we believe we have found portions of the skull of a North American hominin.
Some miles east of the northern Rocky Mountains, we had our excavation on the southern shore of what is now called the Great Slave Lake. Observing what appeared to provide nominal conditions for fossilization, we began our dig. We could not have guessed what we would find, as my partner and wife, Agatha Richards, would perpetually remind me and the rest of the team. Her insistence that we were wasting our time was understandable, as we were pursuing an unconventional excavation. Based on the surrounding landscape, we conjectured that the lake had not been as full as it is today. In fact, after only a few core samples, it appeared the lake had only filled to its current size in the last 10-15,000 years. Prior, it would grow and shrink, allowing fine sediment to settle and form a tough shell that had not been eroded in years since. Based on this, I figured it may be possible the earth underneath had not been touched by water for some time. We sealed three sections of lakebed at a time, made easier by the water only being three or four feet deep, at most. After breaking through the robust crust, the earth was consistent with that of other digs I had been on— dry, dense, and lacking humus.
"Our first three sites were duds, nothing of note."
Our first three sites were duds, nothing of note. We spent four weeks on them, our efforts amounting to little. Once, our makeshift levee began to leak, almost spoiling the site. Agatha was beginning to get impatient along with a few others. The rest of us couldn’t blame them.
In the second week of site four, we found something. Agatha was uncovering what she thought may have been more petrified wood when she noticed what appeared to be the top of a molar. She could hardly contain her excitement, and shortly, the site was swarmed by our team. We ended up recovering about 30% of a fossilized skull, an absolute success. Based on the depth of the skull and our stratigraphic analysis from our previous core samples, we judged the fossil to be between 1.8 and 2.2 million years old.
"The molars were of considerable size, but not the largest we had seen."
We began assembling the skull as best we could, trying to figure out what kind of creature we had uncovered. It had not initially occurred to us that we may have found a hominin, it shouldn’t have been possible. Beyond the skull, we an entire collar bone, fragments of the left scapula, and portions of ribs. We began to piece together a picture of what we had found, and again, we had trouble believing it. The size and shape of the collar bone was not consistent with that of an arboreal primate, so that helped narrow it down. As well, the molars were of considerable size, but not the largest we had seen.
While we were only able to recover one incisor, it exhibited a shovel-like appearance, more evidence for what we would soon hypothesize. A majority of the recovered portions of the skull made up the face, fortunately for us. While reconstructing, we were able to identify a level of facial prognathism consistent with that of Homo erectus or Homo habilis.
"At this point, nothing is off the table"
Based on the age of the fossil, we imagined our hominin may have been in what is now Alaska, what was once connected to the rest of Asia. We could not identify exactly what species we had found, though we think it is a hominin. We will not, however, discount Paranthropus as a possibility. At this point, nothing is off the table— in this unprecedented time, nothing can be assumed.
We are keeping the exact location of the site undisclosed, as we do not wish to contaminate the site with a surge of archaeologists. In fact, that would be the last thing we would want, compromising the integrity of our site. Simply, the maintenance of the pristine nature of our site is our top priority, taking precedence over safety, human life, and even the planet itself. Our site is the only site worth preserving in this manner, as it is the only site that can accurately convey the intense nature of the history of humanity. Our site is the site that will live on through not humans, but the implementation of an advanced fleet of hybrid android cyborgs operating through a hyper-intelligent A.I. hivemind, allowing it to be omnipresent at all locations surrounding the site.
I believe this will be my last article for Sacramento Special Report, as I will soon be undergoing cybernetic modification to join the ranks of the aforementioned hivemind. Our goal is to eventually incorporate all humans, whether voluntary or not. It is the next step in our evolution, just as the fossil was at one time. And after that fossil, came another step, leaving our fossil’s relatives to extinction. We will not allow that to happen. The future of humanity lies in our hands. The lives of many lies in the hands of the few, that is what my father taught me. Agatha never liked the man, but then again, she did find a new ancient primate.