Humans in America 30,000 years ago, far earlier than thought.

Ciprian Ardelean irst excavated the Chiquihuite Cave in 2012 but did not discover the oldest artefacts until 2017. (Photo Credits: Functional Gamerz)

Ch Hussain

July 22, 2020, 6:09 pm

Paris (AFP) - Tools excavated from a cave in central Mexico are strong evidence that humans were living in North America at least 30,000 years ago, some 15,000 years earlier than previously thought, scientists said Wednesday.

Artefacts, including 1,900 stone tools, showed human occupation of the high-altitude Chiquihuite Cave over a roughly 20,000 year period, they reported in two studies, published in Nature.

"Our results provide new evidence for the antiquity of humans in the Americas," Ciprian Ardelean, an archeologist at the Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas and lead author of one of the studies, told AFP.

"There are only a few artefacts and a couple of dates from that range," he said, referring radiocarbon dating results putting the oldest samples at 33,000 to 31,000 years ago.

"However, the presence is there."

No traces of human bones or DNA were found at the site.