The discovery of ancient tools inside a north-central Mexico cave has scientists reevaluating just when humans first appeared in the Americas. The artifacts were found inside the Chiquihuite Cave – which sits at a steep elevation – requiring a five-hour climb just to reach it.
Two new studies suggest that humans were living in North America as far back as 30,000 years ago—preceding some earlier estimates by more than 15,000 years. https://t.co/86CgH1eI1b
— Mental Floss (@mental_floss) July 22, 2020
Carbon dating suggests humans were here as early as 33,000 years ago. They may have entered the Americas via the Pacific coast as the land bridge between Alaska and Siberia wouldn’t have appeared until the last Ice Age, some 10,000 years later.
Details of the find were published Wednesday in two papers in the journal Nature. Though, there are skeptics who wonder how such early humans could have gone undetected for so long.
