Author: mikeruggeri

New Research May Show People Moved Back and Forth From North America to Siberia

mikeruggeri

January 14, 2023

The remains of three people who died in Kamchatka, Siberia show they had North American genes. So people traveled back and forth across the Bering Sea region. Researchers studied genetic and linguistic evidence that showed folks in North America boated back to Siberia. This new DNA evidence bolsters the proof of this. The evidence from this new DNA study shows evidence of this return journey 5,000 years ago and 1,500 years ago. 

However, critics point out that the genes identified as North American comes from a group that never left Siberia but shares ancestry with Native Americans.

Ancient Siberia is turning out to be a crossroads. Altai hunter-gatherers in Siberia are related to Bronze Age people from Central Asia. One who appears to have been a shaman in the burial remans had northeast Asian ancestry. And one has ancestry from the Jomon people in Japan.

The research is published in Current Biology


Science.org has the report here.

https://www.science.org/content/article/native-americans-and-their-genes-traveled-back-siberia-new-genomes-reveal?fbclid=IwAR0j-21tyo810ODMsuTwewCA1OpXR6pMSnbvJpM2JjmwuSE5Z16foNynvFE

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Pedra Furada Pre-Clovis Claims Debunked

mikeruggeri

January 14, 2023

Some researchers have been claiming that they found stone tools made by humans that were in use 50,000 years ago at the Pedra Furada site in Brazil. But new research shows that Capuchin monkeys widely made and used stone tools in this area at that time. The assemblage found at Pedra Furada does not show anything beyond crude stone tools that were probably made by the Capuchin monkeys. 

The monkeys have their own rock quarries, where they selec rocks to use as hammers to crack nuts against a larger, flattened anvil rock. Rocks also come in handy for eating seeds and fruits—and the monkeys even lick the dust created from driving two rocks together, possibly as a way of adding minerals to their diets.

Stone tools assist capuchins with other tasks as well, such as digging. And the females throw rocks at potential mates as a way of demonstrating sexual interest.

All of these processes can lead to the stones breaking into smaller flaked pieces—which, the new study found, are indistinguishable from some ancient stone tools carved by early humans.
The research is published in Sage Journals’ The Holocene 

Artnet.com haș the report here:
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/ancient-tools-monkeys-2237820

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New Research on the Ancient White Sands Footprints

mikeruggeri

November 21, 2022

New research on the ancient human White Sands footprints which were dated by a research team to be between 23,000-21,000 years old has now been disputed by a new team of researchers from the Universities of Nevada, Kansas, and Oregon State. The original team making the claim used tiny seeds used to date the footprints using radio carbon methods. The plant seeds came from  Ruppia cirrhosa, an aquatic plant that grows underwater. These plants do not get their carbon from terrestrial sources but from dissolved carbon atoms in the water. Using aquatic plants like this for radio carbon dating is problematical.

Earlier radio carbon dating of these aquatic plants were found to be only 7.400 years old in a study at New Mexico labs in 1947. Finding these plant seeds in conjunction with human footprints would subtract 7,400 years from the age of the footprints, making the footprints between 15.000-13,000 years old.

Cambridge University Press published the new research here:

https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2022.38

Heritage Daily has the report here.
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/11/new-research-questions-dating-of-ice-age-footprints-in-north-america/145212

Archaeologists Claim Humans Butchered Mammoths 37,000 Years Ago in New Mexico

mikeruggeri

August 12, 2022

Archaeologists from the University of Texas, excavating at the Hartley site in New Mexico, are claiming they have found evidence of humans butchering mammoths 37,000 years ago. They found the bones of two mammoths in a large pile. Carbon dating the collagen in the bones gave a date between 36,250-38,900 years old. The archaeologists claim that the bones had been handled by humans. Some bones look like they were made into human knives. Other bones look like they were broken by blunt force, and puncture marks on the ribs perhaps made by humans to get to nutrients.
A boulder and some first sized rocks could have been used to break the bones. There could have been a controlled fire which researchers say cooked the mammoths, along with smaller animals and fish. Crystallized ash in the sediment could have come from a fire to cook the mammoths. The researchers at the site used high-resolution CT scans and scanning electron microscopy.

But scientific critics of this claims are pointing out there is no definitive evidence of human activity. Weathering, trampling, sediment layering, landslides can cause this kind of damage to bones. There is no unambiguous human tool and no human remains at the site, no evidence of humans directly at all.

The research was published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.

(My note; I always look to absolute proof of humans being involved such as human DNA evidence, Human bones or teeth, actual human tools, some kind of human habitation proof. No research like this can withstand the critiques without this kind of evidence. Pre-Clovis sites have been proven at Monte Verde in Chile and Paisley Cave in Oregon and perhaps the Page-Ladson site in Florida, but the proofs there are far more extensive and prove human activity at these Pre-Clovis sites. The research at the Hartley site is far from proven.)

Livescience.com has the report with photos here:
https://www.livescience.com/mammoth-butchering-site-new-mexico

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24,000 Year Old Tools Found in Beringia Studied

mikeruggeri

March 13, 2022

Humans were hunting mammoths, bison, caribou in Beringia, a land mass that once connected Siberia to Alaska 24,000 years ago. Archaeologists at the Blue Fish Caves have found perhaps the oldest proofs of this ancient age. Archaeologist Lauriane Bourgeon is studying the collection gathered so far from the Bluefish Caves, tools and 36,000 animal bones. She has found cut marks made by humans on 15 of these bones dated at 23,500 years ago. 

Most of the bones were from Beringian horses that became extinct 14,000 years ago. These Beringian horse bones are found with few tools and no hearths. So the Bluefish Caves appear to be temporary camps.

Most of the Beringian human dwelling places are now underwater. The few places now posited as possible human dwelling places will have to be further tested for the age of the stone tools found there. 

(My note; It is important to remember that these finds are in what was once Beringia. The dates where Beringians may have actually entered into Alaska are still debated. So these are not the First Americans as much as they are the first Beringians. The oldest sites for the entry of the First Americans are much further south, and had to be reached by canoe voyagers long before the Clovis entry in Alaska.)

Hakai Magazine has the report here:
https://hakaimagazine.com/news/investigating-ice-age-americans-ancient-abattoir/

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23,000 YEARS OLD HUMAN FOOTPRINTS FOUND IN NEW MEXICO

mikeruggeri

October 9. 2021

Ancient human footprints at the White Sands site in New Mexico have been uncovered. They were pressed into a local plant, spiral ditch grass. The seeds of the plant were radio carbon dated at 21,000-23,000 years ago. Seven footprint sites have been found at the site. They may represent children and adolescents because their feet were smaller. Since these foot prints were made by people who lived during the last glacial maximum, they had to have arrived by sea by some route around the glaciers.

Scientific American has the report here;
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/footprint-discovery-hints-at-humans-in-the-americas-more-than-20-000-years-ago/

The footprints were found in the dry land bed of Lake Otero. The footprints were found by the team of archaeologists studying the site on a day when wind exposed the prints;

Sci-news has that report here:
http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/americas-oldest-known-human-footprints-10100.html

The team found six layers and 11 seedbeds that stretched for 2000 years. The oldest footprint being 22,800 years ago and the youngest at 21,139 years ago.

The erosion that has revealed the footprints will disappear in a matter of months or years. Countless footprints are disappearing before the scientists even lay eyes on them.

But there is one strong doubt that remains; The seeds could have absorbed older carbon from the lake water, making them seem older than they really are. That particular problem will have to be settled before this find can be labeled as genuine Pre-Clovis.

(My note; That problem and further testing often takes years to prove by other teams investigating the evidence. It took over 20 years for the Monte Verde site in Chile to be proven Pre-Clovis and many years before the Paisley Cave, Oregon find to be certified Pre-Clovis).

The NY Times has that report here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/23/science/ancient-footprints-ice-age.html?partner=IFTTT

Research in Alaska Points to a Human Presence There 32,000 Years Ago

mikeruggeri

March 11, 2021

Researchers at Brown University, funded by the Shared Beringian Heritage Program believe they have found traces of human fecal matter and fire activity in Northern Alaska that date to 30,000 years ago. Their research has not been published yet. Human findings in Siberia date to 45,000 years ago. The genetic data on modern Native Americans show that they descended from a long isolated Berigian population. The Beringian Standstill Hypothesis postulates that humans populated Beringia from Siberia to Canada at 25,000 years ago before moving south as ice receded.

The researchers retrieved samples lakes on the Seward Peninsula. They found samples of human fecal matter and the use of fire were dated to 30,000 years ago. The fire presence was found on a cold, dry climate area, not in warmer areas. So they began to suspect a human presence was responsible. They then looked for human fecal matter and found it at 32,000 years ago in their core samples. They then look at another lake, Burial Lake, and found the same biomarkers of fecal matter and fire, and found them at the same date.

Their research will be published in a few months. Their proofs in the area of genetics and biochemistry will not show proof of archaeological evidence.

(My note) This is the beginning of a new branch of research as to who the First Americas were. Once the research is published, debate will begin on this new branch of study. Archaeologists may begin to look deeper in the Seward Peninsula for a definite human presence. Finds like this take decades to prove or disprove. If archaeological evidence is found in the end at 32,000 years ago, this would be a substantial discovery. And remember, the genes of modern Native Americans which match those in Beringia, groups traveling south into the Americas by canoe may originate from different genetic groups. That research is also ongoing.

National Parks Traveler has the report here;
https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2021/02/research-could-reset-accepted-timeline-humans-reaching-north-america

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Possible Pre-Clovis at Chiquihuite Cave in Mexico

mikeruggeri

July 27, 2020

DNA scientist Professor Eske Willerslev, of St John’s College, University of Cambridge, and director of The Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre, University of Copenhagen, led the study with archaeologist Dr Ciprian Ardelean, of the University of Zacatecas in Mexico, working at the cave site in northern Mexico have uncovered 2000 stone tools which they claim date back to 25,000-30,000 years ago.

The cave is at 2,750 metres above sea level. DNA analysis of the plant and animal remains around the stone tools are dated to that very early date. There has been no human DNA found there. The animal remains found in the cave include black bears, rodents, bats, voles and even kangaroo rats.

The team believes this was a seasonal outpost for hunters and gatherers to come and exploit natural resources from time to time. It was a good defensive perch for these folks. The researchers have spent 10 years studying the cave and sometimes living in it.

(My note; This story has been widely reported, and it is important to note that human tools with these kinds of ancient dates have been claimed in many places in the Americas. The most important element of Human DNA, and any human artifacts other than stone tools like housing posts, fabrics that can be dated, etc. are missing in all of these places but for two, Paisley Cave in Oregon and Monte Verde in Chile, which date back to 14,500 years ago. I am sure more will be found in time.
Archaeologists at the Topper Site in South Carolina, for instance, are claiming stone tools dated to 50,000 years ago. Again, no human DNA or human artifacts other than stone tools have been found.)

Go here and scroll down to Topper Site to read these claims;

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Story Source:
Materials provided by St John’s College, University of Cambridge. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference:

Ardelean, C.F., Becerra-Valdivia, L., Pedersen, M.W. et al. Evidence of human occupation in Mexico around the Last Glacial Maximum. Nature, 2020 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2509-0

Science Daily has the report here;
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200722112726.htm

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New Findings on Paisley Cave Pre-Clovis

mikeruggeri

July 17, 2020

In 2007, Archaeologist Dennis Jenkins found ancient human coprolites at Paisley Cave in Oregon. They were radio carbon dated at 14,000 years old, making them only the 2nd site in the Americas with human DNA that are dated as Pre-Clovis. The other site in the Americas with Pre-Clovis human DNA is at Monte Verde in Chile.

There was controversy over this claim, with some claiming these were animal coprolites later contaminated by humans.

A new study in the UK has found that the coprolites are indeed human. They found this by identifying lipids that are human. The combination of the human DNA with the lipid analysis makes it solid proof these are human coprolites. From the coprolites, we can see the Pre-Clovis inhabitants of the cave ate mammoths, seeds, rodents and plants.

(My note; This is very big Pre-Clovis news. And I hope coprolite studies at other sites will take place)

The NY Times has the report here;
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/science/cave-poop-americas.html

The research is here at Science Advances;
https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/29/eaba6404

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Possible 15,000 BCE Pre-Clovis Site Uncovered in Mexico

November 11, 2019

Workers at a location in Tultepec, north of Mexico City, found a cache of mammoth bones and notified INAH. INAH have worked for 10 months at the site and have found hundreds of mammoth bones, and realized this was a pre-historic hunting site. They found two man made traps where the mammoths were driven to their deaths by ancient hunters. The pit dates to 15,000 BCE, thus making this discovery the earliest close to proven Pre-Clovis site in the Americas.

(My note: There are sites claiming to be older in the Americas, but no human-animal interaction that could lend credence to the dates. And these sites rely on stone tools and stratigraphy analysis for their proposed dates. At this time, only Monte Verde, Chile and Paisley Cave, Oregon have proven Human DNA, and/or other human made materials along with tools at the sites, that are proven dated to 13,500 BCE. This site shows humans interacting with animals at the proposed date of 15,000 BCE).

INAH found 824 mammoth bones, eight skulls, five jaws, 179 ribs. These belonged to 14 mammoths. Camel and horse bones were found here as well. Groups of hunters numbering 20-30 steered one mammoth at a time into the pit, possible with torches and branches. The mammoths would be killed once in the traps. There are signs of butchering, and one bone looks to having been used as a polishing tool. The tongues of the mammoths were consumed as food.

Only right shoulder bones were found. Perhaps the left shoulder bones were used in ritual. One mammoth was laid out in a symbolic formation.

INAH will be looking for additional traps in the area.

The 15,000 BCE date has to be reviewed and published in a peer reviewed journal.

Smithsonian Magazine has the report here;

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/found-mexico-two-traps-where-woolly-mammoths-were-driven-their-deaths-180973522/

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September 6, 2019

PRE-CLOVIS IDAHO

Evidence of a Pre-Clovis site at Cooper’s Ferry Idaho has been uncovered. The dates for the evidence so far point to a 16,000 years ago settlement, Charcoal unearthed there point to a settlement date of 15,945-15,335 hearts ago. Some other bone and charcoal are dated at 14,075 and 15,195 years ago. Artifacts at the site still show up at 8000 years ago. So this site had a very long occupation. The site was probably occupied seasonally for hunting, gathering, fishing. The local Nez Perce tribe members know the site as Nipéhe.

The only way these settlers could have arrived is by foot or boat along the Pacific Coast at these dates and not across the Bering strait, which was ice covered at that time.

Animal bones and discarded stone tools, including bifaces (two-sided handaxes blades) sharp stone flakes, and fragments of two projectile points that are earlier in style than Clovis tools have been uncovered. The stemmed points are very similar to stemmed points on Hokkaido in Japan that date to 16,000-13,000 years ago. Other stone artifacts found also resemble the Hokkaido tradition.

The research is published in Science, 2019. DOI: 10.1126/science.aax9830 (About DOIs).

And Ars Technica has the synopsis here.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/08/16000-year-old-site-in-idaho-indicates-people-sailed-around-the-ice-sheet/

Although there has been no human DNA found yet, nor any evidence of more concrete human occupation like post holes, fabrics etc. The stone tools are at the same dated level as the animal bones found. And there is proof that the settlers dug hearths and pits in which the Pre-Clovis animal bones were found.

There will be debate about the stemmed points age in terms of development. Clovis points and stemmed points were in use simultaneously.

These additional facts are at Science magazine;
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/08/first-people-americas-came-sea-ancient-tools-unearthed-idaho-river-suggest

(My addition; without human DNA proof and human artifacts found that are not just stone tools, the proof here is not as strong as Pre-Clovis proof at Monte Verde, Chile and Paisley Cave in Oregon, but the evidence is very close to absolute proof.)

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May 21, 2019

The Oldest Human Footprint in the Americas Discovered

The oldest human footprint in the Americas has been discovered in Chile, dating to 15,600 years ago. It was discovered in 2010 at the Pilauco excavation site in Chile where scientists have been digging since 2007. It is in the region of Patagonia. Fossil bones and tools were alongside of it. Radiocarbon dates on organic plant life that was present at the footprint determined the age of the footprint. Based on features such as foot arch, the size of the print, and the width-ratio between the ball of the foot and the lack third segment, scientists were able to conclude the print came from a human male around 22 pounds (10kg) lighter than one of their print makers. Researchers had also found bones of animals near the site, including those of primitive elephants.

The print was  also likely buried fast by layers of soil after it was made, which allowed it to be preserved it to this day.

The print is only 60 miles away from the oldest site in the Americas, Monte Verde, which dates back to 14,600 years ago.

The footprint is now preserved in a glass box and is housed at the recently established Pleistocene Museum in the city of Osorno, Chile. The study was published online April 24 in the journal PLOS One.

LiveScience has the report here with photos;
https://www.livescience.com/65368-oldest-human-footprint-americas.html

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May 18, 2019

New DNA Test of a Blackfeet Clan Member Breaks New Ground.

Darrell “Dusty” Crawford, a member of the Blackfeet tribe, wanted to have his DNA tested, and it has been tested after his recent death. His ancestry shows DNA from the Pacific, and ancestors traveling to South America, then north. His DNA is in haplogroup B, which is of low frequency in Alaska and Canada, and originated in Arizona 17,000 years ago. His closest relatives are in Southeast Asia. The Blackfeet clans trace their clanship back to four females, one whose name was Ina. That name comes from a Polynesian mythical figure who rides a shark. His DNA was 85% Native American, 9.8% European, 5.3% East Asian (mostly Japanese and Southern Han Chinese), 2% South Asian (Sri Lankan Tamil, Punjabi, Gujarati Indian and Bengali) and .2% African (Mende in Sierra Leone and African Caribbean).

(My note; The story that the First Americans came across after the Beringia opening has been touted as the only route the First Americans could have taken to arrive here. In all of the research I have compiled, I believe there is a Pacific crossing as well. See my Pre-Clovis news page below. This DNA study also points in that direction).

The report is in USA Today
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/05/06/blackfeet-man-dna-deemed-oldest-americas-cri-genetics/1121352001/

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October 26, 2018

Compelling Evidence for Pre-Clovis at the Debra Friedkin Site in Texas

Archaeologists have uncovered 11 spear points at the Debra Friedkin site near Austin. They date to 13,500-15.500 years ago. They were found buried beneath Clovis tools dating to 11,500 years ago. People lived at this fresh water site for 10,000 years. The points are in the style of “western stemmed points.” Researchers used a scientific technique called optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) to determine the dates. This technique is not as accurate as radio carbon dating, but these tools were in water and could not be dated that way. But the very precise vertical placement of the older tools lying below the Clovis tools gives these dates credence. Western stemmed points have been found along the Pacific Coast, thus furthering the thesis that the First Americans arrived by way of canoes along the coast.

(My note; This is the most compelling evidence for Pre-Clovis from either the Texas Gault site or the Debra Friedkin site so far.)

Science Magazine has the report here;
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/10/stone-spear-tip-may-have-belonged-first-americans?utm_source=newsfromscience%3Dflipboard%3Dflipboard2408205

The full research article is here in Silence Advances;
http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/10/eaat4505?utm_campaign=Science-Advances-%28%40ScienceAdvances%29&utm_content=AAAS&utm_medium=social&utm_source=64&utm_term=SciAdv

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July 4, 2018

Page-Ladson Site Pre-Clovis

The Page-Ladson site is the first Pre-Clovis site to be documented in the US southeast. Artifacts dating to 14,500 BCE were found in a well dated stratigraphic context. The site is near the Gulf of Mexico.  71 wood samples were carbon dated at Pre-Clovis time periods in conjunction with stone artifacts of coastal plain chert, a knife fragment and a flake. The artifacts are in deposits that contain extinct mammal remains (mastodon, camelid, and bison). A mastodon tusk has marks made by humans to remove the tusk, dated at 14,550 BCE. The Pre-Clovis inhabitants knew where to find freshwater, game, plants, raw materials for making tools, and other critical resources for survival. Further Pre-Clovis investigation in the area is hampered by the fact that most of the area is now underwater. The Page-Ladson site itself is underwater.

The full scientific report is at;

http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/5/e1600375.full

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June 3, 2018

New Research on the First Americans Coastal Route Idea

Researchers analyzing boulders and bedrocks on Alaskan islands found that a coastal migration route was accessible to humans from Asia entering the New World 17,000 years ago. Ancient seal bones in the area of research have been dated to 17,000 years ago. This shows food was available in the area of glacier retreat 17,000 years ago. Four islands were studied 200 miles south of Juneau. Researchers took rocks from that area to determine how long the islands studied had been free of ice. They used a technique called surface exposure dating, which shows the time when the rocks began accumulating chemicals that appear as the ice melts. The date for this chemical change on the rocks was at 17,000 years ago.

The evidence at Monte Verde in Chile has proven humans were living there 15,000 years ago. The same is proven for the Paisley Cave site in Oregon. The coastal route for the First Americans would have been a far easier route to enter areas south of Canada than the treacherous route humans would have to take overland. And that area lacked the resources for human survival long after 15,000 years ago.

The research is published in. The May 30 journal Science Advances.

Science Daily has the report here;

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180530144144.htm

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January 7, 2018

Pre-Clovis Ancient Beringian Population Discovery

Researchers have studied the the remains of an infant girl called Xach’itee’aanenh T’eede Gaay, by the indigenous people at the Upward Sun River site in Alaska. Her remains are dated to 11,500 years ago. But her genomes show a previously unknown population, and is the earliest known population of Native Americans. She was buried next to another infant in a ceremonial grave, and they were covered in red ochre. They are members of a group now known as the Ancient Beringians. Their population split from East Asians 36,000 years ago.

They were genetically changed from their ancestor group 25,000 years ago, probably due to population isolation due to brutal climate conditions,  They entered Alaska first by way of Beringia, and their northern and southern offshoots descended from them later.They were trapped in Beringia until around 20,000 years ago. They were either genetically distinct from the rest of the Native Americans before they left Beringia or both groups traveled across, and then split genetically after they arrived in Alaska. This study relies on a single sample. So the real diversity in the gene pool will await more samples. The research is published in Nature;

J. Víctor Moreno-Mayar et al, Terminal Pleistocene Alaskan genome reveals first founding population of Native Americans, Nature (2018).  DOI: 10.1038/nature25173

Smithsonian and

Phys.org

have the reports here

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/genetics-rewrites-history-early-america-and-maybe-field-archaeology-180967745/

And

https://phys.org/news/2018-01-reveals-evidence-population-ancient-native.html

(My note; Since this is a single sample, a lot more needs to be learned about these populations, and this needs more samples. And while the “Ancient Beringian” population is now definitely the oldest group to have entered the Americas so far, by way of proven genetic research, we still may find even older groups later in time. And there is still the question of whether even earlier groups made their way into the Americas, and traveled all the way down to Monte Verde in Chile, by way of canoe coastal travel, starting at even earlier dates on their journey south.)

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April 7, 2017

14,000 Years Old Site Found on Triquet Island, British Columbia

The oral history of the Heiltsuk people in British Columbia tells of a coastal strip that did not freeze during the last ice age, and that their people used as a place of refuge during the ice age. Now archaeologists have found an ancient hearth on Triquet Island that is carbon dated to 14,000 years ago. They have also found fish hooks, a hand drill for igniting fires, a wooden device for launching projectiles and a cache of stone tools near the hearth. This bolsters the concept of the entry into the Americas by way of coastal travel. And the date of the site is a Pre-Clovis date.

Smithsonian Reports this news here;
http://bit.ly/2nQSRCL

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April 7, 2017

Pre-Clovis occupation 14,550 years ago at the Page-Ladson site, Florida, and the peopling of the Americas

Stone tools and mastodon bones at the Page-Ladson site in Florida have been dated to 14,550 years ago. People butchered or scavenged a mastodon in a bedrock sinkhole in the Aucilla River. The site has been studied since 1983 but the earlier evidence of a Pre-Clovis date were challenged. Excavations began anew in 2014. The new studies now confirm that the stone artifacts, which include a biface knife fragment made of coastal plain chert, have been dated at the Pre-Clovis date of 14,550 years ago. Tusk marks of the mastodon show stone tool made grooves as humans were extracting the tusk at that date.
Page-Ladson now joins Monte Verde, Chile and Paisley Cave, Oregon as Pre-Clovis sites that have shown evidence of Pre-Clovis human activity beyond just stone artifacts.

Science Advances has the entire research report here;
http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/5/e1600375

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis World
http://preclovisworld.tumblr.com

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis World Magazine
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January 19, 2017

Human Occupation of Beringia at 24,000 Years Ago?

The bones of horses. bisons, mammoths and other remains at Blufish Cave in the Yukon Territory excavated decades ago placed the bones at 25,000 years old. Anthropologist Lauriane Bourgeon at the University of Montreal believes a few of these bones show clear evidence of human cut marks on the bones of a dozen of the remains. This human cut mark theory was first proposed in 1977. The area of the bones were part of a land mass called Beringia, east of the Bering Strait. This goes further to proving what is called the “Beringian Standstill.” The theory is that a genetically isolated human population lived in Beringia before the last Ice Age. And they moved into the Americas from there, once the ice in front of them receded. The team studied 36,000 bones in the caves using high tech equipment.
15 of the bone samples prove human butchery says the research. The oldest sample with this find was dated at 24,000 years ago. The research is published in PLOS One journal.
Bourgeon, L., Burke, A., & Higham, T. (2017). Earliest Human Presence in North America Dated to the Last Glacial Maximum: New Radiocarbon Dates from Bluefish Caves, Canada PLOS ONE, 12 (1) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169486

(My Note; Cut mark evidence in the absence of any other human evidence is not always reliable many archaeologists maintain. Lauriane Bourgeon does state that this is just a beginning theory that has to be buttressed by other evidence such as human DNA evidence. So much more research has to be done. And many questions remain in Pre-Clovis science. Did the inhabitants of Beringia enter the Americas before any other groups? Are they related to the Pre-Clovis folks that lived at Monte Verde in Chile or the Pre-Clovis folks who utilized Paisley Cave?)

Western Digs has the report here;
http://westerndigs.org/bones-in-yukon-cave-show-humans-in-north-america-24000-years-ago-study-says/

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis World
http://preclovisworld.tumblr.com

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis World Magazine
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October 26, 2016

New Pre-Clovis Proof at Paisley Cave Oregon

Researchers have found that humans probably lived alongside an extinct horse species at Paisley Cave. Oregon, 14,000 years ago, in Pre-Clovis times. Dennis Jenkins has shown proof of tools and human feces dating back to 14,300 years ago in earlier research. In the same cave as the humans were extinct fossils of camels and mastodons. Researchers analyzed toe bones of the extinct horse species and computer modeled the finds with five other extinct horse specimens across the US to determine the exact species of the horse fossils.
The research is published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Western Digs has the report here;
http://bit.ly/2eES6bZ

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis World
http://bit.ly/11wqze5

Mike Ruggeri’s Web Pages

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October 1, 2016

New possible Pre-Clovis Find in Argentina

Archaeoliogists working at the Arroyo Seco 2 site in Argentina have found tools, bones of extinct species and animal bones broken by tools, mammal bones that appear to have been transported dated at 14,064-13,068 years ago, placing the find in the Pre-Clovis era. Taken separately, each find could have been done without human involvement, but it is the confluence of all of the finds together which indicates a human occupation. The research has been published in the peer reviewed Plos One Journal.
(My note; the most important and totally proven Pre-Clovis site is at Monte Verde in Chile dated within the same time period. So far, the researchers have not found human DNA evidence at the site as has been found at Monte Verde).

Popular Archaeology has the report here;
http://bit.ly/2dkNbil

And the full Plos One paper is here;
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=info%3Adoi/10.1371/journal.pone.0162870

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis World
http://bit.ly/11wqze5

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis World Magazine
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Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis News on Tumblr
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August 12, 2016

New Research on the Arrival of the First Americans

Researchers from Denmark have taken samples from nine former lake beds in British Columbia and radio carbon dated the sediments. In the deepest layers from 13,000 years ago, they found no evidence of life in the area of the “ice free corridor” First Americans would have used to come to the New World. The area was naked and barren at 13,000 year ago. At the 12,600 years ago layer, they found traces of bison, hare and sage brush. So the area was not open to human travel at 13,000 years ago. There was a physical corridor, but it would be 400 years before humans could have traveled that corridor. So people entering the Americas could not have done so unless they traveled along the Pacific Coast. We know that people with stone tools had populated the Americas before 13,000 years ago. Before 12,600 years ago, there was no wood for fuel and tools, game animals for food, clothing and shelter in the so called ice free corridor.  So the Clovis Culture that had established itself in the Americas by 13,000 years ago, had to have arrived by way of coastal travel by canoes. There were earlier Pre-Clovis peoples who arrived by the same coastal route at Monte Verde in Chile and Paisley Cave in Oregon before the arrival of the Clovis Culture immigrants 1,500 years before the arrival of the Clovis people.

The Daily Mail has the story and photos here;
http://dailym.ai/2boeqp7

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis World
http://bit.ly/11wqze5

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis World Magazine
http://bit.ly/1uAWdvk

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis News on Tumblr
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July 25, 2016

New Pre-Clovis Finds in Texas

Archaeologists in Texas have uncovered 90 stone tools that date back 16,700 years, along with human teeth, and 160,000 flakes from the tool making process at the Gault Site. The teeth are from a young adult female. The teeth have been sent to a lab for analysis. The stone tools are completely different from Clovis tools. And so are the flakes. To prove the dating assertion, the soil the stone tools were found in was tested using optically stimulated luminescence dating, and the dates showed an age of 13,200-16,700 years old. Radiocarbon and relative dating of the artifacts were in agreement with these dates. The team presented their findings at the 2015 meeting of the Plains Anthropological Conference.

Western Digs has the news here with photos;
http://westerndigs.org/16000-year-old-tools-discovered-in-texas-among-the-oldest-yet-found-in-the-west/

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis World
http://bit.ly/11wqze5

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis World Magazine
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Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis News on Tumblr
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May 13, 2016

Pre-Clovis Find in Florida

Radiocarbon dating at the Page-Ladson sinkhole site in Florida has shown that ancient tools, including a knife, alongside extinct animal bones were Pre-Clovis, dated to 14,550 years ago. They found a mastodon tusk with cut marks made by humans using stone tools. This proves that these extinct mastodons were not wiped out by human hunters as quickly as believed, but lived alongside of them for 2000 years. The artifact dating, stratigraphy dating and other scientific dating is unequivocal for Pre-Clovis. 71 samples of wood all matched at being 14,500 years old and they were found in the dated stratigraphy layers as matching.

The Daily Mail has good photos with the story;
http://dailym.ai/228WaDy

The LA Times includes a video with the story;
http://lat.ms/1Wx6SEp

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis World
http://bit.ly/11wqze5

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis World Magazine
http://bit.ly/1uAWdvk

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis News on Tumblr
http://mikeruggerispreclovisnews.tumblr.com

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April 3, 2016

Large Genetic Study Reveals New Pre-Clovis Dates

Australian, Harvard, and California genetic researchers have studied 92 Pre-Columbian mummies and skeletons that were dated at 500-8,600 years old. They show the almost total extinction of Pre-Columbian populations and their gene pools by European contact. They also found that the First Americans entered the Americas in Pre-Clovis times, 16,000 years ago, via the Pacific Coast, skirting around the ice bound Beringia blockage. They reached Chile at 14,600 years ago as Tom Dillehay has proven at Monte Verde. The research was published in the peer reviewed “Science Advances.“

Popular Archaeology has the report here;
http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/spring-2016/article/ancient-dna-sheds-new-light-on-early-americans

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis World
http://bit.ly/11wqze5

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis World Magazine
http://bit.ly/1uAWdvk

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis News on Tumblr
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January 15, 2016

Genetic Proof for First Americans Disproves any Trans-Atlantic Migrations.

Professors Jennifer Raff and Deborah Bolnick has written report for the journal PaleoAmerica on the First Americans. She points out that all of the genetic data from mitochondrial and genomic material gathered thus far on who they were points to migrations from Siberia, and does not show evidence of any Trans-Atlantic migrations. The Solutrean hypothesis about early migrations from Europe are not supported by any solid genetic data. The argument made about the X2a haplogroup found in Kennewick Man being of European origin  is put to rest by the recent more complete study showing Kennewick Man had no proof of any European ancestry through his entire genome.

(My note; The haplogroup referred to is found in the Altaic region of Siberia as well as Europe. The rest of the genomes in any study like this will tell the origins of the First Americans. And all of that evidence shows an Asiatic origin, coming right down to the genetic studies of modern Native Americans).

PhysOrg has the report here;
http://phys.org/news/2016-01-genetic-ancient-trans-atlantic-migration-professor.html

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis News on Tumblr
http://mikeruggerispreclovisnews.tumblr.com

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis World Magazine
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November 19, 2015

Earlier Pre-Clovis Dates Found at Monte Verde

Tom Dillehay, the archaeologist who excavated the first proven Pre-Clovis site in the Americas, Monte Verde, Chile has just published results of his latest excavations at the site. He has uncovered artifacts with burned features that are dated to 16,500 BCE. He found burned faunal remains, worked stones, and human knapped flakes that date to 16,500-12-500 BCE. The site is a seasonal site where humans periodically camped. The idea that humans spread rapidly from established sites across the Americas is now in question. Coastal travel for the First Americans was probably easy, but moving inland may have had many difficulties. The earliest human skulls found in the Americas are surprisingly variable, and the earliest populations may have been largely wiped out by later arrivers. The traces of the earliest people may have been found in recent gentic studies in modern South American populations.

The latest research by Tom Dillehay is on PLoS One 10 (see reference below):
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0141923

John Hawkes has the report here;
http://johnhawks.net/weblog/reviews/archaeology/america/dillehay-monte-verde-2015.html

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis World
http://bit.ly/11wqze5

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis World Magazine
http://bit.ly/1uAWdvk

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis News on Tumblr
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November 2, 2015

9000 Ancient Artifacts Uncovered in the Mojave Desert

Archaeologists have found 9,000 artifacts representing 11,500 years of history. 8,830 stone tools, flakes, ceramics, bone and a Clovis blade made from jasper have been uncovered in the Mojave desert. They also perused older research reports from this area, which is on a Marine base. 19 Western Stemmed Tradition points and 14 Pinto points had been found in the area, dating to 4000-6,500 BCE. Most of the artifacts uncovered by this team date to 5000-7000 BCE. The team has requested that the two most productive sites be placed on the Department of the Interior’s National Register of Historic Places.
Byerly and his colleagues report their findings in the journal Paleoamerica.
Byerly, R., & Roberson, J. (2015). Late Pleistocene to Middle Holocene Archaeology in the Mojave Desert: Recent Discoveries in Twentynine Palms, California PaleoAmerica, 1 (2), 197-201 DOI: 10.1179/2055556315Z.00000000020

Western Digs has the report here;
http://westerndigs.org/nearly-9000-artifacts-uncovered-in-california-desert-spanning-11500-years-of-history/

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis World Magazine
http://bit.ly/1uAWdvk

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http://mikeruggerispreclovisnews.tumblr.com

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October 31, 2015

11,500 Year Old Infant Burials in Alaska Studied

Archaeologists have found two infants buried with a stone cutting tool and animal antlers with spear points in an 11,500 year old burial at the Upward Sun River site in Alaska. They belong to two genetic groups. Their genetic makeup lends itself to the idea that humans lived in a dry area that existed between Siberia and Alaska 30,000 years ago called Beringia. Humans may have spent as many as 10,000 years in Beringia before moving rapidly into America 15,000 years ago. Since the two lineages represented by the two infants lived so far north so long ago, their genes support the “Beringian Standstill Model.” The genetic variation of the two may be showing that the 10,000 year hiatus in Beringia gave rise to genetic diversity before they came into the Americas. The lineages of the infants are not found in Siberia or Asia, so they must have drifted from Asiatic groups during those 10,000 years in Beringia.
Genetic material has been found at eight sites in North America older than 8,000 years. In these eight sites, all five major lineages of Native Americans are present, indicating the the Beringian population gave rise to all of the lineages. One of the two infants is the ancestor of tribes in Arizona, California, Bolivia, Tainos and in Illinois. The other infant is the ancestor of Washington, Arizona, California and Peruvian tribes.

(my note; The idea is that populations in Beringia could not move into the Americas during those 10,000 years of the standstill due to a huge untrekkable area of ice that stood between them and the Americas. This still does not preclude the idea that other Asiatic peoples escaped this standstill by taking a canoe route down the Pacific Coast in earlier times. The Pre-Clovis finds at Monte Verde, Chile and Paisley Cave in Oregon would be examples of these earlier arrivers).

My Pre-Clovis and Clovis web site has a section on Beringian studies, published before this research, as well as on Paisley Cave and Monte Verde, for further elucidation.

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis World
http://bit.ly/11wqze5

The Daily Mail has the report on the two infants with their usual great illustrations;
http://dailym.ai/1PbgKON

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October 6, 2015

Possible Pre-Clovis Find With Wolly Mammoth in Wisconsin

A wooly mammoth dated to between 11,700-15,000 years ago has  been excavated in Michigan. Large parts of the remains of the mammoth were excavated aling with possible stone tools for cutting and anchoring. The vertebra were arrayed in correct anatomical sequence and not scattered. A pond may have been used for storage. Cut marks on the bones will be sought and dated. The dates may be within the Clovis range, but there is a chance that the dates will be Pre-Clovis.

Archaeology.org has the report here, with a photo;
http://www.archaeology.org/news/3736-151005-michigan-mammoth-bones

And Mashable has a number of photos here;
http://mashable.com/2015/10/03/michigan-mammoth-fossils/#TKAcVLp6ePq5

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis World Magazine
http://bit.ly/1uAWdvk

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July 24, 2015

Genetic Researchers Find Australian, Andaman Islands and South Pacific Genes in Some Amazon Groups

Researchers have found that some people in the Brazilian Amazon have genetic ties to the people of Australia and the South Pacific. But two different groups came to different conclusions on the results of the research. One group says that there was only one migration into the Americas around 23,000 or more years ago. And that the later South Pacific genes came from later arrivers from the Aleutians through a chain of mixing down the Pacific coast. The other group agrees that the first migrations took place 23,000 or more years ago, but from two groups and not one. This research identified a second group they call Population Y. This group is more closely related to Australian and Andaman Islanders than to the Eurasian descended Native Americans.

Both groups feel that the difference in the findings can eventually be reconciled with further gene studies

The LA Times has the story here;
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-native-american-origins-dna-20150721-story.html

And the NY Times has the story here;
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/22/science/tracing-routes-to-america-through-ancient-dna.html

Each paper has a few pieces of information that the other does not.

(My note; These genetic studies on the first migrations into the Americas are done by many research groups and often come to similar disagreements about the number of migrations and the dates for them. So this study will not be the last one like it. It is interesting that both groups in this study posit a date some 23,000 years ago for the first migrations into America. This places the first migrations way before Clovis times. So Pre-Clovis entry is bolstered by these two groups research. This also does not eliminate the possible entry of small groups entering before this time frame whose genes may not show up in the present studies. Remember that this study has found groups with genes not found before of South Pacific origin.)

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis World
http://bit.ly/11wqze5

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis World Magazine
http://bit.ly/1uAWdvk

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis News on Tumblr
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June 23, 2015

11,000 BCE Human Footprints Found in British Columbia

Fossilized footprints of a man, woman and child radio-carbon dated at 11,000 BCE have been found on Calvert Island, British Columbia. An ancient campfire was also found nearby. Due to the sea levels being stable at this island, these footprints were not underwater. Many other sites in the general area have proofs of humans living in that area at 11,000 BCE. This is the first site in the area with human footprints dated at that time period.

(my note; I always like to add that in order for ancient peoples to be at these sites at that date range, they would have had to enter the Americas long before.)

CTV news has the report with a photo here;
http://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/sci-tech/human-footprints-found-on-b-c-shoreline-may-be-13-000-years-old-1.2435011

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis News on Tumblr
http://mikeruggerispreclovisnews.tumblr.com

Mike Ruggeri’s Pre-Clovis and Clovis World Magazine
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May 10, 2015

Earliest Art Work in Alaska Found?

Archaeologists in Alaska have found a bone pendants with cross hatching that is dated to 12,300 years ago. This may be the earliest art work ever found in Alaska. Earlier, teams working nearby at the Upward Sun River site found three Ice Age infant/child burials. They are now expanding digging in this area. Bone fragments that may have been on their way to being made into art work and a brown bear jawbone were also found. The artifacts in the area are protected by layers of fine dust called loess which blows off glaciers.
Sitnews has the story here with photos;
http://www.sitnews.us/0515News/050715/050715_ak_science.html
(The reports on the earliest Alaskan Ice Age burials are here)
http://phys.org/news/2011-02-scientists-oldest-sub-arctic-human.html
http://uafcornerstone.net/oldest-subarctic-north-american-human-remains-found/

Mike Ruggeri’s The Ancient America’s Breaking News
http://bit.ly/UbLO7x

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April 17, 2015

Proof of Ancient Asia/Alaska Trade Discovered

Archaeologists have found bronze artifacts dated at 1000 CE at the Rising Whale site in Alaska. This is further proof that ancient trade was happening between Asia and the Americas at this very early date. One of the bronze artifacts is dated at 600 CE. The bronze would have had to come from Yakutia, China, or Korea. Obsidian from Russia was also found. The trade may have been facilitated by the “Bernick” culture, who lived on both sides of the Bering Strait. They are the ancestors of the “Thule” who went as far as Greenland. The Thule are ancestors of the modern Inuit.
The team will present their research on the Rising Whale site at the Canadian Archaeological Association annual meeting in St. John’s Newfoundland, Canada, between April 28 and May 2.

Live Science has the story here;
http://www.livescience.com/50506-artifacts-reveal-pre-columbus-trade.html

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April 16, 2015

Wally’s Beach, Alberta Pre-Clovis

University of Calgary researchers are investigating the site of Wally’s Beach in Alberta. The tracks and bones of extinct animals, and stone tools were uncovered when the area was drained. The objects were dated at 13,000 years old on the first investigation in 1999. A new investigation has found that the artifacts are 300 years older, putting them into the Pre-Clovis category.
Brian Kooyman, one of the researchers, said that evidence of hunting horses was found there. They found the footprints of mammoths and camels. The new and more advanced dating methods in use today found the artifacts at Wally’s Beach were Pre-Clovis in date. The Clovis period in Calgary began 12,000 years ago. This site shows the beginnings of large scale hunting in the Americas as a prelude to the Clovis culture.

(my note: Of couse, it took a long time before 13,300 years ago for these hunters to reach Alberta. They would have had to leave Asia at an even earlier time).

The Calgary Herald has the news here;
http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/q-a-with-brian-kooyman-on-the-wallys-beach-site

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March 24, 2015

Pre-Clovis Hunting in Alberta

New advanced radiocarbon dating has found that Ancient Americans hunting extinct horse and camel species at Wally’s Beach, Alberta were hunting 300 years before the beginning of the Clovis era. 27 new radiocarbon dates verify this assertion.
The finds add to the knowledge that humans were hunting mammoth, mastodon, sloth, and gomphothere species for 2000 years before these species became extinct.
The research was reported in the *Article #14-20650: “Late Pleistocene horse and camel hunting at the southern margin of the ice-free corridor: Reassessing the age of Wally’s Beach, Canada,” by Michael R. Waters, Thomas W. Stafford, Jr., Brian Kooyman, and L. V. Hills.
Source: Adapted and edited from the PNAS press release, Large mammals hunted by prehistoric humans

(my note: It is also always good to remember that it would have taken a long time for these ancient Americans to arrive at places like Alberta, so they would have had to leave Asia long before the Clovis era began.)

Popular Archaeology has the report here;
http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/spring-2015/article/horse-and-camel-hunting-by-prehistoric-humans-in-north-america

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March 6, 2015

Possible Pre-Clovis tool found in Oregon Rock Shelter

Archaeologists have uncovered a scraper chipped from orange agate at the Rimrock Rock Shelter in Oregon. It was found under volcanic ash, 12 feet below the surface from Mount St. Helen’s, that has been dated at 15,000 years ago. If this date holds up, it will be another Pre-Clovis dated find from Oregon, with the Paisley Cave site as the other Pre-Clovis site, and where DNA evidence, tool evidence and stratigraphy evidence shows proof of Pre-Clovis activity at the site. The problem with this Rimrock Shelter find is that it has not yet been published in a peer reviewed journal, nor been subjected to outside research. And the chipped agate has to have been shown to have not slipped down through the ash layers so that it is not really as old as the ash covering at that depth.

(my note; So this find is not in the same league as the proven Pre-Clovis finds at Monte Verde, Chile or Paisley Cave, Oregon. The Monte Verde finds have withstood the test of time. Numerous tests have been done on the stratigraphy layers where human artifacts were found by many outside groups. None of these groups diputed those finds after testing. The fabric material, tools, footprints and housing posts also have undergone testing over time, and the dates continue to show Pre-Clovis in time. The human DNA found on human chewed seaweed at the site also correlates with the Pre-Clovis dates proven so far. Unless all scientific testing is totally faulty, Monte Verde is proven Pre-Clovis. And if all scientific testing and peer group testing is faulty, then archaeologists cannot date anything correctly. The Monte Verde dates are as proven as any dates proven in the field. At Paisley Cave, human coprolites were found and dated at Pre-Clovis. The stratigraphy layer of the tools has been verified at Pre-Clovis. The Paisley Cave finds are not as old as Monte Verde, so there will be more peer group testing at that site.)

Fox News printed this AP report, with a photo of the agate;
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2015/03/06/excavation-at-oregon-site-unearths-ancient-stone-tool/

 

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February 25, 2015

New Discoveries on the Most Ancient Human Remains in Texas

A man and girl were buried at the Horn Shelter Site in Texas 11,100 years ago. Smithsonian is analyzing the bones and grave goods, and Harvard is looking at the DNA. The 40 year old male had a medicine bundle of red ochre pigment, seashells, badger claws, hawk talons, turtle shells. His arms appear to be those of a drummer. The 11 year old girl may have been sacrificed to accompany the shaman into the afterlife. The turtle shells were placed over the man’s face and under his head, and the grave is in the shape of a turtle. There is a sharpened coyote tooth used for scarification. The skeletons were found in 1970.
(My note; This is one of the frustrations on dealing with the ancestry of ancient Americans, it takes so long for studies to commence. Only now, after 44 years are DNA and other extensive studies being done on the earliest bodies ever found in Texas.)

The WacoTrib has the story with photos here;
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/higher_education/smithsonian-sheds-light-on-shaman-and-girl-buried-on-the/article_fec2b8c9-e100-5082-a1e1-5791025981f3.html?mode=jqm

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January 12, 2015

The Oldest Human Skeleton Ever Unearthed in South America

An 11,230-12,401 year old adult male skeleton has been unearthed at Los Vilos in Chile. This is probably the oldest human skeleton ever unearthed in South America. This individual’s diet consisted of seafood, mainly fish and sea lions. He had serious gum infections and small wounds, and died at the relatively early age of 45. He suffered a common ear infection of seafarers. The place where he was found adds to the proof that the earliest Americans came by way of the sea. The archaeologists at the site have collected thousands of human bones. Bones of five other individuals within walking distance of each other have been found. The 11,230-12,401 year old skeleton was found in a mound, buried in a fetal position. And surprisingly, the five other individuals were buried in a different millennium, a thousand years later, in the same place. Donald Jackson, the lead archaeologist, submitted the bones for radio-carbon dating to three different labs in the US. He decided to publish the most conservative date of the three labs at 11,230 years.


(My Note; A little further down the Chilean coast, at Monte Verde, is the site of the first definite Pre-Clovis settlement. Much further north, at Paisley Cave, in Oregon, is the second positively dated Pre-Clovis site. By that, I mean human made tools dated at Pre-Clovis times, fibers, housing posts, human footprints, fishing implements, human coprolites, seaweed chewed on by humans, all dated at Pre-Clovis time periods, peer tested stratigraphy dating. Add to that the very old human remains found on the Channel Islands off the coast of California, and the evidence for a Pre-Clovis entry into the New World along the Pacific Coast by way of canoe traffic is now proven. The only way for humans to have reached coastal Oregon and coastal Chile in Pre-Clovis times was by way of canoe from Asia, hugging the coast from Siberia to the American Pacific Coast).

Que Pasa has the story (in Spanish) here;
http://www.quepasa.cl/articulo/ciencia/2015/01/3-16012-9-el-primero-de-nosotros.shtml

And Donald Johnson’s research on the site and the ancient individual is posted at Academia.edu as a re-print of his post in a peer reviewed journal here;
http://www.academia.edu/2040983/Human_remains_directly_dated_to_the_Pleistocene-Holocene_transition_support_a_maritime_diet_among_the_first_settlers_of_the_Pacific_coast_of_South_America

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December 27, 2014

New Discoveries at the Old Vero Man Site may Yield Pre-Clovis Proof.

The Old Vero Man Site is being excavated in Florida anew in a large way. Radiocarbon dating of the soil that contained cultural materials and 170 species of plants and animals have been dated at 13,000-14,000 years ago. A buried soil layer has been dated at 19,000 years old. Burnt fragments of bone, some with cut marks, indicate a human presence at this Pre-Clovis dated site. Florida Atlantic University scientists are working with the archaeological team to confirm dates on any human artifacts that may be found at the site. Excavations will continue into 2015.

Heritage Daily has the report here with a very good film narrated by James Adavasio.
http://www.heritagedaily.com/2014/12/mai-dig-suggests-human-presence-old-vero-man-site/106062

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November 13, 2014

9,500 BCE Infant Burials Found at Upward Sun River in Alaska

Archaeologists from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks have uncovered the remains of an infant who died at 12 weeks and a fetus that died shortly before birth. The dates of these infants are at 9,500 BCE. The site would have been the area of Beringia during the last ice age. The site where they were found, at Upward Sun River, shows signs of long term occupation, including the oldest residential structures found in Alaska. Stone projectile points that made up a hafted biface spear, and antler rods were placed in the burials, and all were covered with red ochre. The infants may have been twins. Burials of children within residential structures have been found at the site of Ushki in Siberia, and the biface stone points are similar to those found at the Anzick site in Montana.
Science Magazine has the story here;
http://news.sciencemag.org/archaeology/2014/11/infant-burials-could-help-solve-mystery-who-settled-new-world
Western Digs adds that the antler shafts found in the burial are much longer then others found in North America, and are similar to those found in Siberia. Three of the shafts were covered in multiple X patterns, a new discovery in North American hunting tools.
The research is posted in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Western Digs has the report here with photos of the tools;
http://westerndigs.org/twin-ice-age-infants-discovered-in-11500-year-old-alaska-grave/

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August 26, 2014

Kennewick Man Full Study Finally Released

The Kennewick Man researchers have finally released their long awaited final report on Kennewick Man in a 688 page, peer reviewed book, ,“Kennewick Man: The Scientific Investigation of an Ancient American Skeleton,” that will be published this fall by Texas A&M University Press. The book has contributions from five dozen authors who studied Kennewick Man, using all the instruments of modern forensics.
He was a seal hunter who died at 7000 BCE. He had a projectile point in his hip, five broken ribs, two dents in his skull.
He came from Alaska or the Aleutians, or all the way from Asia. He lived off of seals and other marine mammals and drank glacier melt water. His body was wide set, similar to Inuit peoples in Alaska. The skull and long bones show affinity with Asian coastal groups, especially Polynesians. His skull is not like later Native American skulls. It resembles the skull of a young girl found in a submerged cave in the Yucatan and the skull of a man found in the Channel Islands, off of California. His skull most closely matches Polynesian skulls near New Zealand. His type also has elements form the Jomon People of Korea and the Ainu of northern Japan.
He may have belonged to a hunter group that followed the ice edges around the northern rim of the Pacific. This was like an ancient highway back and forth. The opposing viewpoint is that Kennewick Man and all Native Americans are descended from isolated populations in Beringia, who came in waves, after the glaciars receded. There are finally genetic tests taking place on Kennwick Man in Denmark. This will give us much needed support for any theories on his origins.

The Washington Post has the report here;
http://wapo.st/1ls7QR6

And Smithsonian Magazine adds that his grave was 300 miles inland from the sea, and yet, the evidence shows that he ate only marine mammals in the last 20 years of his life. He also drank cold glacier water of the type found in Alaska and not in the area of his death. This lends itself to the idea that he was a long distance traveler. He was buried with care, so he lived in a small band of travelers. This article also has the most detailed reconstruction of his face.

Smithsonian Magazine report;
http://bit.ly/VM1obt