Broken Bones Hint at Earlier Human Arrival in the Americas
Mastodon bones and shattered stones suggest humans were migrating to the Americas some 100,000 years earlier than currently thought. Nature Video explores this controversial find.
This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on April 26, 2017. It is a Nature Video production.
By Nature Video
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
An archaeological site in California may have opened up a whole new chapter in the history of humans in the Americas. Researchers claim the site shows evidence of humans interacting with the bones of a mastodon, an ice age relative of elephants and mammoths. New dating suggests the site may be 130,000 years old – 100,000 years earlier than the accepted date for the first human colonization of the Americas.
Read full paper on nature.com
Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism
Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community.
When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.
Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber
