Knife, bone, and dung cast doubt on Bering Strait theory and indicate humans spread through Americas 1,500 years earlier than thought, researchers say
A stone knife, mastodon bones and fossilized dung found in an underwater sinkhole show that humans lived in north Florida about 14,500 years ago, according to new research that suggests the colonization of the Americas was far more complex than originally believed.
Archaeologists have known of the sinkhole in the Aucilla river, south of Tallahassee, for years. But they recently dived back into the hole to excavate what they call clear evidence that ancient mankind spread throughout the Americas about 1,500 years earlier than previously thought.
Almost 200ft wide and 35ft deep, the sinkhole was “as dark as the inside of a cow, literally no light at all”, according to Jessi Halligan, lead diving scientist and a professor at Florida State University at Tallahassee. Halligan dived into the hole 126 times over the course of her research, wearing a head lamp as well as diving gear.
In the hole, the divers found stone tools including an inch-wide, several inch-long stone knife and a “biface” – a stone flaked sharp on both sides. The artifacts were found near mastodon bones; re-examination of a tusk pulled from the hole confirmed that long grooves in the bone were made by people, probably when they removed it from the skull and pulled meat from its base.
“Each tusk this size would have had more than 15lbs of tender, nutritious tissue in its pulp cavity,” said Daniel Fisher, a paleontologist at the University of Michigan who was a member of a team that once removed a tusk from a mammoth preserved in Siberian permafrost.
Of the “biface” tool, Halligan told Smithsonian magazine: “There is absolutely no way it is not made by people. There is no way that’s a natural artifact in any shape or form.”
When ancient people butchered or scavenged the mastodon, the sinkhole was a shallow pond: a watering hole for men, mastodons, bison, bears and apparently dogs. The researchers found bones that appear to be canine, suggesting dogs trailed the humans, either as companions or competitors for scraps.
The discovery makes the sinkhole the earliest documented site for humans in the south-eastern United States. The researchers published their findings in the journal Science Advances on Friday, writing that the artifacts show “far better” evidence of early humans than previous work at the site.
“The evidence from the Page-Ladson site is a major leap forward in shaping a new view of the peopling of the Americas at the end of the last Ice Age,” said Mike Waters, an archaeologist at Texas A&M University.
“In the archeological community, there’s still a terrific amount of resistance to the idea that people were here before Clovis,” he added, referring to the so-called “Clovis people”, a group long thought the first band of humans in the Americas.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/may/14/archaeology-florida-sinkhole-ancient-humans-mastodon-knife-bones-bering-strait
7 comments:
I think that it is amazing that archaeologists have found remains of humans that used to inhabit Florida because it adds to the history in the state. And not just the state, but also to the country. Also, the archaeologist that went down the sinkhole was very brave because I know that I would have been really scared to go down, especially in a very dark place with unknown things. But on the other hand, I hope archaeologists find many more interesting things, not just in Florida but in the US.
Very interesting article. I'm impressed of how brave the archeologist was to go down that sinkhole. It's amazing how much evidence we have about humans living in North America about 14,000 years ago.
Very interesting article. I'm impressed of how brave the archeologist was to go down that sinkhole. It's amazing how much evidence we have about humans living in North America about 14,000 years ago.
This is an insightful look perhaps into the lives of the first humans to live in the Americas, especially in the northern Florida region. Being familiar with the Florida's landscape (flat marshland) and climate, we might be able to get an idea on the type of everydays things they ate, or houses they dwelled in, for example. Although the findings aren't complete and keeping in mind that geographic settings do change over time, we still can imagine certain lifestyle characteristics and appreciate the deep rooted relationship between culture and region.
This article provides a great amount of information about our history. I believe we should always ask, what was there before what we already know. This question will inspire us to continue to search for answers as well as remain open to the possibilities. Not only about humans but everyday life, animals, environment conditions, and even culture at the time. Therefore, enlightening us on our origins. One thing I found extremely interesting was when they spoke about the depth of the whole itself. Then later in the article they mention how in that time period the sinkhole was a shallow pond. This shows how our world has changed throughout time. And though we should continue to evolve, we shouldn't forget to continue to search the past because it's our history and this article shows that we still do.
Amazing discovery, this brings archaeologists 1500 years back in history!
These findings are amazing and I find it interesting how archaeologists were able to discover that there was human life 14,000 years ago in a sinkhole.
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