The Claw

40 Rare and Important Archaeological Finds of all time

Mount Owen Moa
In 1986 an expedition was making its deeper and deeper into the cave system of Mount Owen in New Zealand when it came across the huge claw you’re now looking at. It was so well preserved that it almost seemed like whatever it belonged to had just died recently. Upon excavation and inspection, however, it was determined to belong to an Upland Moa, a large prehistoric bird that apparently came with a nasty set of claws.

For me this ranks a ten on the Cool Factor scale, Ten being coolest. I came across this while surfing some Archaeological sites and hadn't seen nor heard of it before and thought I'd share it here. There isnt much more said about it at the site found. I do recommend checking out the link though, Plenty of other interesting finds listed...

I wonder if there is enough tissue left for cloning?

Star & flagged

Slayer another very interesting find and many thanks for your great posts!

reply to post by SLAYER69


That's nuts! It's beautiful and so well preserved. Off to read the rest of the article. Thanks for sharing!

reply to post by SLAYER69

Interesting, and I wonder what the dimensions are? Yea that is the best preserved piece of ancient animal I have ever seen. It does seem like it would be rich in usable dna.
The Upland Moa

At less than 1 meter tall and about 17 to 34 kilograms, the upland moa was among the smallest of the moa species. Unlike other moas, it had feathers covering all of its body but the beak and the soles of its feet, an adaptation to its cold environment.[2] Scientists believed in the past that the upland moa held its neck and head upright; however, it actually carried itself in a stooped posture with its head level to its back.This would have helped it travel through the abundant vegetation in its habitat, whereas an extended neck would have been more suited to open spaces.[3] It had no wings or tail.[4]

I bet if we brought them back, they would become food at some point. They are easy prey it sounds like.
That rat king is interesting too. I have never heard to that, but I can certainly see it happening from time to time.

reply to post by SLAYER69


Slayer if that claw is as big as it looks i don't think i want it owner cloned.
It be like having lots of giant killer chickens running around.

These thing were really BIG.

Mind wanders a bit...

Looking at it closer one could imagine that since birds evolved from Dinosaurs that had the Dinosaurs not gone extinct and continued to evolve would an intelligent bipedal creature equivalent to Humans been the outcome? Would their hands have looked similar? I guess they'd need longer Opposable Thumbs/claws?

Tetrapod Zoology

These things are huge, in Te papa museum down in Wellington they have a model one along with a giant eagle which used to hunt them.

I heard the Maori ate them all, apparently as said they were easy prey because the only threat they knew was from the sky, though they would run like crazy if a shadow appeared over them ^^

reply to post by SLAYER69

Where have I seen something similar? Claws don't match though!

reply to post by SLAYER69


Excellent find, Slayer.

I especially enjoyed reading about all the different findings that were previously unknown. But there was one in general that caught my attention from my focus lately on the Roman/Byzantine times. It is named the "Baby Disposal".

One thing you will realize by the end of this list is that people, at least in the past, were very fond of cannibalism, sacrifice, and torture. As a case in point, not long ago as several archaeologists were searching through the sewers beneath a Roman/Byzantine bathhouse in Israel when they came across something terrifying…baby bones, and lots of them. For whatever reason someone in the bathhouse above apparently felt compelled to dispose of hundreds of babies in the sewer below.

I just recently finished reading about the tragic slaying of children at the hands of King Herod because he was trying to kill the child who was fulfilling the prophecies of the coming Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. Maybe this was a place where they rid of the bodies of some of those children? It is a bathhouse found in Israel, and from the same era...just pondering. I'm sure there would have to be much more evidence to prove such a theory.

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


Thanks for posting the pic. I was originally going to follow up with a background reply on the hows and whys all those giants went instinct shortly after man arrived on the island.

reply to post by havok


That is very creepy in my humble opinion.
Just what the hell were they into?

reply to post by SLAYER69


Straight up Velociraptor-esque. How cool is that to just 'find' it? That would be a highlight of my life.

On another note, this have the makings of an excellent action/monster/thriller book.

Nice find! I surely wish there was a scale in the photo so we could know the actual size.... Cave finds are soooo cool.

As for the babies found in the sewers? What most of us don't realize is that during the time period encompassed by this find the infant mortality rate was probably near 40%. As near as I can tell from reports I've read, this was pretty much a world-wide figure with only minor variations in regards to socio-economic status. Most cultures didn't even bother to name a child until it was of a an age that meant it was going to survive---anything from weeks to 2 years before a naming ceremony took place. Until they have been named by the group, they aren't really considered part of the group. This holds true in many cultures today.
In those times the children were not the focus of life that we see today. They had to grow up to be useful in order to gain respect required for the work of elaborate mortuary practices. It is not at all unusual for babies to be found in trash heaps or other areas that weren't designated burial grounds because those burial grounds were reserved for members of the group.
Studies of mortuary practices in the middle Mississippi region of North America show that the age of inclusion for the people of that culture was between 7 and 10 years of age. While there are instances of infants and young children buried with adults, those adults are almost always female and appear to have died at the same time as the child so the easiest thing to do was to bury the child with the mother.

SLAYER69
reply to post by speculativeoptimist

 

Thanks for posting the pic. I was originally going to follow up with a background reply on the hows and whys all those giants went instinct shortly after man arrived on the island.

Huh? What is "went instinct"? Not trying to be snarky, just confused. Did you mean "went extinct"?

reply to post by diggindirt


Yup, I was distracted.

speculativeoptimist
reply to post by SLAYER69

 

Interesting, and I wonder what the dimensions are? Yea that is the best preserved piece of ancient animal I have ever seen. It does seem like it would be rich in usable dna.

Given that you took the trouble to look the species up, I think you use the term "ancient" too loosely. You probably saw in your search that they only went extinct about 500 years ago. Is that ancient to you?

Harte

reply to post by Harte

Indeed Harte, I did use 'ancient' loosely, I stand corrected. Maybe I had the term fossil on my mind during the researching/posting and it affected my wording.
May I add this too, regarding their extinction:

Humans first came in contact with the upland moa around 1250 to 1300 AD, when the Māori people arrived in New Zealand from Polynesia. Moa, a docile animal, were an easy source of food for the Māori and were eventually hunted to extinction in 1500

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by SLAYER69


If I had that... There would be only one thing to do with it.



FIST OF RAWR!

SLAYER69
reply to post by havok

 

That is very creepy in my humble opinion.
Just what the hell were they into?

Try not think of child / infant finds in modern terms. Infant mortality rates used to be much much higher and as such people had a very different view than nowadays towards infant / child remains. This seems to have been the case globally too, probably some in built human aspect for easy ways to deal with such tragedy.

Of course, if they have chew marks on the bones then................

Another interesting thread, thanks Slayer. Have to say though, i'm a little disappointed this isn't about a slightly rubbish Superhero!

reply to post by SLAYER69


That claw almost looks like it has an opposable appendage/thumb!