Palaeontology

Did humans reach Americas 22,000 years ago?

By T.K. Randall
April 30, 2013 ·  56 comments

Image Credit: PDPhoto It has been generally believed that the first humans reached the Americas around 13,000 years ago with evidence building since the 1980s to suggest that colonization might have occurred slightly before that about 15,000 years ago. Now however the discovery of what appear to be stone tools at a site in Brazil has turned this figure on its head and opens up the possibility that humans had arrived on the continent as far back as 22,000 years ago.

There is considerable uncertainty over the find among scientists with many casting doubt on the accuracy of the claims. Some have suggested that objects that appear to be human-made tools could be created by rocks falling and breaking apart, however an analysis of the tools seems to indicate that they are made from a type of rock which can only be found over 15km from the site.[!gad]It has been generally believed that the first humans reached the Americas around 13,000 years ago with evidence building since the 1980s to suggest that colonization might have occurred slightly before that about 15,000 years ago. Now however the discovery of what appear to be stone tools at a site in Brazil has turned this figure on its head and opens up the possibility that humans had arrived on the continent as far back as 22,000 years ago.

There is considerable uncertainty over the find among scientists with many casting doubt on the accuracy of the claims. Some have suggested that objects that appear to be human-made tools could be created by rocks falling and breaking apart, however an analysis of the tools seems to indicate that they are made from a type of rock which can only be found over 15km from the site.

Source: New Scientist | Comments (56)

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