Some historians will claim that America was “discovered” in1492 by Christopher Columbus; some will talk about Leif Erikson. However, both these groups will agree that these were not the first humans who set foot on American soil. In fact, present-day scientists say that the first people on the North American continent came here about 10,000 years ago.
20,000 years before any historical records
New evidence found by researchers from Iowa State University suggests that humans set off for America 30,000 years ago. That makes it 200 centuries earlier than any scientific or historical records can prove.
Andrew Somerville, a professor at ISU, made this groundbreaking discovery in the Tehucan Valley of Mexico. His team had initially planned to trek across the border to study the origins of agriculture in the region. Instead, part of the task was establishing when humans settled in the Coxcatlan Cave, an archaeological site in the area.
The researchers obtained radiocarbon dates for deer and rabbit bones discovered in the 60s in those caves to answer this question. However, when they discovered how old the bones appeared, they realized they might have stumbled upon a much larger discovery.
The radiocarbon process dated the fossils to be about 28,279 to 33,448 years old. This is a massive blow to the widely supported theory that the first humans in North America made their way here around 13,000 years ago through the Bering Land Bridge.
Somerville says that they were not planning to weigh in on this debate or even discover very old samples. However, he notes that the extremely old dates on the samples from the cave are astonishing. He adds that they will have to take a keener look at the artifacts collected alongside the bones as a result.
How do we know it’s humans?
Another question arises, how can we be sure that the animal bones were left there by humans? They might have been leftovers from a hibernating predator.
To this, there are many possible explanations. The researchers hope to find cut marks or thermal alterations on the bones upon deep examinations, which would be evidence of cooking or butchering.
