Humans populated America 115,000 years EARLIER than thought: Discovery that mastodon bones were butchered with Stone Age tools has forced scientists to dramatically revise the history of the continent…(6th Hack 11:50)
Archaeologists discovered the fossilised mastodon bone fragments in 1992
The bones have several marks and cracks that suggest they were modified
Nature of modifications suggest they were made by humans using stone tools
Carbon dating shows that the bones are around 130,000 years old
This suggests an early human species reached America 115,000 years earlier than thought
By SHIVALI BEST
DailyMail.com
26 April 2017
The history of America could soon be rewritten, as archaeologists have discovered evidence that humans were living on the continent as early as 130,000 years ago.
Researchers have discovered the butchered remains of an enormous mastodon in San Diego, with evidence of chips and fractures made by early humans.
The findings could dramatically revise the timeline for when humans first reached North America, and suggest that a human species was living therThe mastodon remains were discovered at the Cerutti Mastodon site in San Diego by palaeontologists from the San Diego Natural History Museum during routine work in 1992.
Bones, tusks and molars – many of which had signs that they were deliberately damaged – were found deeply buried alongside large stones that appeared to have been used as hammers and anvils.
Ms Judy Gradwohl, CEO of the San Diego Natural History Museum, said: ‘This discovery is rewriting our understanding of when humans reached the New World.
‘The evidence we found at this site indicates that some hominin species was living in North America 115,000 years earlier than previously thought.
‘This raises intriguing questions about how these early humans arrived here and who they were.’
The researchers are unsure who these humans were, or where they went to after butchering the mastodon bones.
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