Initial testing indicates artifacts found with an iceman frozen in a Canadian glacier are about 550 year old, not thousands as many people had originally speculated.
      Archeologists are still very interested in the discovery, announced with much fanfare in August, because the remains still predate regular contact between Europeans and North American natives.
      "Human remains in a frozen state dating to precontact times are extremely rare, as are the associated well-preserved artifacts made with organic materials", officials said in a news release about the preliminary radiocarbon test results.
      Scientists conducted the initial tests on the artifacts - including an animal fur cloak and weaved wood-fiber hat - found with the human remains, because the testing of the body itself is a more complicated process. Archeologists believe people have lived in that region of North America for at least 10,000 years, leading to widespread speculation the remains were significantly older than they now appear to be.

Source: Reuters (30 september 99)