[zephyr]

Some rather electrifying news on possible human occupation in North America. A fossilized mastodon was discovered at a San Diego freeway construction site in 1992. This was initially a paleontological site, but researchers from the San Diego Museum of Natural History began to realize there was evidence of human interaction with the mastodon. The bones were smashed in ways that hunters would crush the bones. Worked stones were found as well as larger rocks used for smashing. Eventually they were able to date the bones to 130,000 years ago. This upended the previous indications of human activity in the Americas which had been dated to 15,000 years ago. The video below is from an article in SciNews. Quote: The Cerutti Mastodon site was discovered by San Diego Natural History Museum researchers in November 1992 during routine paleontological mitigation work. This site preserves 131,000-year-old hammerstones, stone anvils, and fragmentary remains — bones, tusks and molars — of a mastodon (Mammut americanum) that show evidence of modification by early humans. An analysis of these finds ‘substantially revises the timing of arrival of Homo into the Americas,’ according to a paper published this week in the journal Nature. But the fossils from the Cerutti Mastodon site — named in recognition of San Diego Natural History Museum paleontologist Richard Cerutti, who discovered the site and led the excavation — were found embedded in fine-grained sediments that had been deposited much earlier, during a period long before humans were thought to have arrived on the continent.

I encourage you to read the above SciNews article with photos. For example and quote: The finding poses a lot more questions than answers. “Who were the hominins at work at this site? We don’t know. No hominin fossil remains were found. Our own species, Homo sapiens, has been around for about 200,000 years and arrived in China sometime before 100,000 years ago,” the researchers said. “Modern humans shared the planet with other hominin species that are now extinct (such as Neanderthals) until about 40,000 years ago. If a human-like species was living in North America 130,000 years ago, it could be that modern humans didn’t get here first.” “How did these early hominins get here? We don’t know. Hominins could have crossed the Bering Land Bridge linking modern-day Siberia with Alaska prior to 130,000 years ago before it was submerged by rising sea levels,” they said. Here's the Guardian's article and their video. The SciNews article mentions the original published article in Nature "the world's most cited scientific journal" -- a link here. Exciting news for archaeology. Now we just need to find some older human bones. ~z

[DIYSteve]

[zephyr]

I really liked the Editor's summary in the Nature article--very succinct and the last line is pithy. ~z Around 130,000 years ago, a mastodon died near what is now San Diego, California. Although this seems uncontroversial, Thomas Deméré and colleagues present evidence that the carcass had been modified by human beings. Stone hammers and anvils were found alongside mammoth bones and teeth that show signs of having been broken by percussion, presumably to extract bone marrow. Dating the site has been problematic because the bones preserved too little collagen for radiocarbon dating, and optically stimulated luminescence dating put the age at over 60,000–70,000 years. Dates based on the decay of uranium, constrained by the movement of uranium between the environment and the bone, now give an age of around 130,000 years. If confirmed, this would extend tenfold the time that human beings are known to have been present in the Americas and predate the time that modern humans are thought to have first left Africa. The identity of the hominin species—if any—remains unknown.

[thunderhead]

Going from "These old bones were broken by a rock" to "The rock was swung by a hominid, and was done at the same time as when the animal died" Sure does seem to be a major leap.

[Malachai Constant]

I don't want to say it was aliens but. . .

[RichP]

It is still in question as to whether humans were here 50,000 years ago. The Topper site in SC along the banks of the Savannah River has been excavated for decades and some scientists believe they they indeed were. http://www.postandcourier.com/archives/were-ancient-humans-here-years-ago-s-c-discovery-reveals/article_4de731dd-e6bb-50da-8bf9-f2ea270c66ff.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topper_Site These new findings, if true, certainly predate this site.

[Ski]

[Bernardo]

“I was astonished, not because it is so good but because it is so bad,” said Donald K. Grayson, an archaeologist at the University of Washington, who faulted the new study for failing to rule out more mundane explanations for markings on the bones. Quote from today's NYT.

[Malachai Constant]

I know about uranium dating also and it is not terribly accurate certainly for 150,000 years carbon 14 is entirely a different story.

[tmatlack]

Dude, I use Michener's flint knapper scene from Centennial and other sources as intro to indigenous US History in my h.s. classes. This could change some lesson plans...even if false...to point out problems of paleo/archaeological research. Tom